In the years after the end of the Tradom Imperium, relative peace
rules in the Milky Way. In the LFT, they are preparing themselves
under major exertions and costs for the still vague occurrence of
what the Cosmocrat envoy Cairol had described as the
coming „increase of the hyperphysical resistance". They
work to make sure all the planets are capable of relying upon
themselves. That walks hand in hand with heavy cuts in the economy
of entire solar systems. Voices of opposition rise against the plan
and means, so that the LFT gradually end up losing some respect in
the dance of the galactic powers. The other races ignore Perry
Rhodan's admonitions, which he repeatedly makes in the
Galacticum. The Arkonides especially are interested exclusively in
the extension of its position of power. The Terrans and
specifically Perry Rhodan are the declared enemy at this time. On
Arkon III, the defense industry runs at full speed. In June 1329
NGE Perry Rhodan and Reginald disappear during a flight to Mars for
several weeks ( the story of their adventure during this time takes
place in the Odyssey pocket book mini-series). Then, from the year
1331 NGE, inexplicable hyperstorms appear in the area of the Milky
Way that lead to innumerable transmitter failures. The crystal
screens in the solar system and Arkon fail as well.

The Terran-Arkonide hybrid Kantiran born on January 22, 1313 NGE
wakes up on the backwoods planet Craiff in the Arkonide Crystal
Empire. The world is an agricultural planet and Kantiran lives with
his foster father, a farmer. He does not know who his parents, who
died in an accident years ago were, but knows that he is
a "bastard", based on his dark hair and water blue eyes. Because
of this exterior „defect", he is at a disadvantage and mocked
during his childhood, for the relations between Terra and Arkon are
to say the least frosty. Kantiran however has a special ability: he
can communicate with small animals, probably on an empathic level.
Kantiran is visited in September 1326 NGE by Ascari da Vivo, the
highest ranking personage on Craiff, who declares herself at first
as an acquaintance of his parents. The eerie Kralasene Shallowain,
who is known as the Hound, accompanies Ascari. In her long familiar
manner, she ignores the objections of his foster parents and
abruptly takes the boy on a day trip. She gives him some glasses in
which special small optics are incorporated. They can record
everything that is outside his visual field. A year later Kantiran
is picked up by Shallowain and brought to the elite cadet training
Paragetha on Arkon I. Normally, only the offspring of Arkonide
nobles are instructed there for high-ranking military careers, and
the school is directly subordinated to the Imperator. Here Kantiran
naturally has it an especially hard time, but he does not give up
and obtains the best results in all the classes. His high psi-
values are also discovered there. Nevertheless, as a Terran-
Arknoide hybrid, Kantiran would have been accepted to the school at
all, if its leader had not been forced by order of the highest level
to do so. Shallowain occasionally appears in the Paragetha in order
to begin battle training Kantiran, who naturally has no chance
against the Hound with the white eyeballs. In the year 1331
Kantiran is accepted for the ARK SUMMIA, with which his extra sense
is supposed to be activated.

On Arkon I, Kantiran meets the girl who becomes his great love:
the young colonial Arkonide Thereme, who works as a tailor for a
Cel'Mascant of the Arkonide secret service. The two become a
couple. The red haired, squarely built Mal Detair who runs an
animal clinic becomes his best friend. Kantiran is able to
repeatedly use his special abilities there, but most of all train
and improve them. Detair gifts him with a Tarox. He carries this
little carnivore that only he can tame, around his neck like a fur.
Shortly before the ARK SUMMIA Thereme is murdered with the help of
poisonous insects, that leave behind no traces. With Detair's
aid, Kantiran learns out that Shallowain must have been involved
with the murder. Kantiran takes part in the ARK SUMMIA on Iprasa,
although nothing means anything to him anymore. He passes all the
tests and thereby reaches the rank of a Tai-Laktrote. The
activation of his extra sense fails however, and Kantiran falls into
a coma, that continues for three months. His psi-values, which are
responsible for the failure are now magnified. He now understands
the whole instinctual mental world of all animals (although this
type of telepathy stops at the level of creatures with conscious
thought) and can mentally give them commands, which they cannot
oppose. After he finally revives, he is called to Ascari da Vivo.
She reveals to him that his skills were personally directed since
his birth by her and the Imperator and that based on his outstanding
achievements, he is to receive even without the completion of the
ARK SUMMIA a command post in the fleet. His posting would be in the
Hayok star archipelago. While Ascari speaks with Kantiran, he
directs her lap pet with his thoughts to swallow a storage crystal
that obviously contains personal data about him. Later he lures the
animal to him and retrieves the crystal. What he learns from it,
completely blows him away: he is the son of Perry Rhodan and Ascari
da Vivo and was raised to birthing in a test tube. He is meant to
be used as a weapon against the Terran, for Rhodan suspects nothing
of Kantiran's existence and if he were to be confronted with his
son at the correct moment, it might paralyze his ability to make a
vital decision.

When Kantiran sees through these intentions, it also becomes clear
why Thereme had to die. It could not be tolerated that Kantiran
became hindered by romantic feelings for an „underprivileged"
colonial. Kantiran now loses his former rock solid loyalty to the
Arkonide Empire. Kantiran proceeds once again to Ascari in order to
confront his mother with the truth. She admits that it she who gave
the order for Thereme's assassination. She shows no feeling of
any kind for her son, seeing only a tool for the annihilation of
Terra in him. He thereupon has his marten attack her, for he has no
other weapon and Ascari carries a protection screen anyway that
protects her from energy weapons, but not simple matter. The
dangerous animal rips up the beautiful Arkonide, but becomes
mortally wounded. Ascari certainly survives the attack, but
Kantiran knows nothing of that yet. Together with Detair, he
escapes from Arkon II, taking passage on a rundown Springer ship
that is to bring freight to the Traversan system. Bostich sends the
Kralasene Shallowain after Rhodan's fleeing son, but he is to
bring back Kantiran alive...

Kantiran and the animal healer Mal Detair are on the run. The two
escape from Arkn II in the old Springer ship GELTAN XIII, which is
on the way to Traversan. Kantiran, who believes he has killed his
mother Ascari da Vivo, feels no remorse. For him it was revenge for
the death of his beloved Thereme. The universe seems to be acting up
these days and the flight of the old Springer ship feels like a ride
on a volcano. The Springer patriarch Geltan cannot remember when
such strong hyperstorms had ever so complicated space travel in the
area of Thantur Lok. Kantiran is tormented for the moment though, by
other concerns. Without a doubt the Hound Shallowain has picked up
his trail. Kantiran estimates his chance to escape as slight.
Shallowain will quickly find out the goal of the Springer ship and
then hunt him down. Therefore, Kantiran who still disposes of enough
finances, tries to convince the Springer patriarch to change course.

Kantiran's goal is the free trade world Taloris, twenty thousand
light years away from Arkon. The young half-blood must pay
expensively for this course change. Because he has disclosed about
his finances he is attacked, as the Springers boldly come after
Kantiran and Mal Detair in their cabin. The impoverished Springer
kinship is obviously ready to come into some money. The attempt ends
lethally for the Springers. Mal Detair, former officer of the Arkon
fleet, takes firm action. From that point on the Springer patriarch
promises to hold to the made agreement. After a short orientation
fall the Springer cylinder continues its flight. In spite of all
efforts to raise the performance of the Metagrav, their speed in
hyperspace constantly decreases. Kantiran remembers the warnings of
the Terrans, particularly Perry Rhodan, who had announced that the
Cosmocrats would be raising the hyperphysical resistance in the
universe. Was this the first sign that the effects of it would soon
be taking place?

Shallowain is already after Kantiran. With the Arkon battleship
LEOTARD he has taken up pursuit of the Springer cylinder. The
Kralasene knows how Kantiran's mind works and does not believe that
Kantiran will really go to the planet Traversan. For Shallowain it
is clear that Kantiran will choose another goal, which will offer
him more possibilities for flight. The LEOTARD, which is also shaken
by the unbelievably strong hyperstorms uses all its means for
detection to find the trail of the GELTAN XIII. After a short time,
the detectors pick up a signature radiation which points clearly to
the Springer cylinder. As expected the Springer has changed course
and now heads for another sector. On the basis of the course data
Shallowain does not need long to guess Kantiran's target. It is the
free trade world Taloris! The LEOTARD also changes course and races
after the Springer ship. The modern Arkonide ship also loses speed
in hyperspace. Nobody has an explanation for it. In the increasing
chaos, hyperradio communication is also disturbed. Therefore,
Shallowain has a message repeatedly sent to the Celistas on Taloris
immediately.

After the GELTAN XII has thankfully landed on Taloris, Kantiran and
Mal Detair leave it immediately. Chaos rules on the planet. The big
transmitter station has not been functioning correctly for days now
and many containers and people get lost in hyperspace. The radio is
also impaired and great concern spreads. Kantiran and Mal Detair
take a room at a third-class hotel and try to exchange Arkonide
Chronners for Galax. When Kantiran and Mal Detair meet on the edge
of the space harbor, they observe a big spherical spaceship without
any markings of origin. Mal Detair had filmed the crew as it got
off. Kantiran could swear they are Celistas. Then at the end he sees
his archenemy! Shallowain the Hound really has arrived on Taloris!

The Springer patriarch Geltan experiences a disagreeable surprise
shortly afterward. Just before he is able to leave Taloris, an elite
Arkonide military unit storms his ship. The short resistance of the
Springers is crushed. Whoever resists, dies. Geltan answers the
questions of the Arkonides as best he can and delivers a description
of his former passangers. The hunt continues and Shallowain uses
every imaginable aid to hunt down the two men quickly. Finally, he
lays waste to the bank, in which Kantiran is exchanging his
currency. Driven into a corner, Kantiran and Mal Detair have only
one possible way left to leave Taloris alive. The container
transmitter network! The risk of getting lost in hyperspace due to
the hyperspace disturbances is considerably high. However, Kantiran
also knows that his life on Taloris is not worth a Chronner, as long
as Shallowain the Hound is after him. Mal Detair contributes the
escape vehicle, a glider, just as the archway of a transmitter is
aimed at the slave station in the Quovan system, five thousand and
one light years away from Taloris. Shallowain who pursues the two
fugitives hesitates to follow them at the last moment. Transmitter
passage is too insecure for his taste and therefore, he prefers to
take the conventional way to Quovan. The LEOTARD launches
immediately and takes course for the Quovan system. The Kralasene
swears that he will hunt Kantiran down at the end no matter what
condition he came out of the transmitter in on Quovan Seven. When
the LEOTARD starts the jump into hyperspace, the attempt fails. The
Metagrav engine no longer seems to function and the ship remains in
normal space!

News from the LFT: The recently returned Mars has been
colonized, the Aarus are still in the Milky Way and
Mondra Diamond is a State Secretary in the staff of
the League Minister of Foreign Affairs Julian Tifflor.
The no longer to be denied changes of the
hypercontinuum have at least one positive aspect: The
downhill running of the economy was stopped, because
the preparatory measures of the Terrans seem to have
worked. Other than that, though, there is only bad
news. Transmitter traffic lays fallow (Perry Rhodan
forbids the transport of people with transmitters
completely), which brings an upswing to commercial
space travel. A term for the disturbances was already
coined: Hyperphysical resistance is the name of the
effect, which also ensures that ships are simply
hurled ever more frequently from hyperspace or not
even able to get over the speed of light. The
hyperlight speed factors are generally reduced up to
seven percent, and the hyperradio ether is disturbed.
It will require ever increasing energy, in order to
obtain certain hyperenergetic effects, while at the
same time crystals used (e.g. Howalgonium) are being
leech faster than usual.

But the news these days is overwhelmingly about a
completely different event - the approaching wedding
of Reginald Bull and Fran Imith (see PR mini-series
Odyssey for details on how they met) is imminent! The
celebration must however be postponed, because Bull
must examine a new, inexplicable phenomenon. Violent
space quakes are shaking many sectors of the galaxy,
but they are occurring in almost completely empty
space, where there are no suns. Bull observes a
suddenly appearing asteroid swarm in one of these
areas in the proximity of the Hayok star archipelago.
On one of the asteroids is a metallic radio dome,
which must be at least two thousand years old and has
engravings of unknown characters. And the
technology used in the station appears completely
unfamiliar.

On August 30, 1331 NGE Kantiran is still on the run
with Mal Detair from Shallowain the "Hound". They
risked and succeeded in making the passage with their
glider through a large transmitter to Quovan-7,
despite the disturbances in hyperspace. After the
landing, or actually, more a crash, they try to get
passage aboard a freighter that is not flying towards
Thantur Lok. Kantiran buys a passage for himself and
his companion with Commander Juéla, since her
destination, Reno 25, leads in the correct direction.

When they reach Reno 25, they try to submerge
themselves in the town center of an enormous city,
which covers the whole continent. They change their
appearance with simple means, in order to be
considered Arkonides. They buy an old used Space-Jet,
the DIRICI. With this they launch and fly again
further away from Thantur Lok. They end up
n difficulties however, for it comes to ever growing
disturbances in hyperspace. Kantiran tells Mal during
the flight of his disgust for the Arkonides and his
mother, who let him be born in-vitro, and decides to
go to his father, Perry Rhodan.

Kantiran and its companion fly with the DIRICI to
Terra. They pretend to be tourists, who want to watch
the upcoming wedding of Reginald Bull to Fran Imith.
They are not recognized yet, but are bid welcome,
although they have journeyed from the Crystal Empire.
Kantiran is deeply impressed. Later they reach the
Solar Residence, which offers a grand sight.

They try to be taken to the Resident Perry Rhodan in
the Solar Residence, but are arrested and brought to
Mondra Diamond instead. He asks formally for asylum
and to be brought to the Resident.

Unnoticed by the others, he informs Perry Rhodan that
he is the son of Ascari da Vivo. After that, Kantiran
is examined and the result shows he is telling the
truth. It comes to a discussion between father and
son. Kantiran informs Perry that he hates his mother
and therefore committed an attack upon her, because
she only wanted to manipulate him. Perry accepts his
behavior, although he does not understand it, and
offers Kantiran his paternal friendship and
grants him asylum.

Soon, the event of the century begins. On September 2,
1331 NGE all the stations on Terra report live on the
finally occurring wedding of Fran Imith and Reginald
Bull. Kantiran and Mal Detair participate
in the ceremony. But for the second time, the wedding
is interrupted, for the spacequakes are approaching a
kind of climax. Kantiran and his friend meet on the
ROALD AMUNDSEN with Bully and his fiancé to fly back
to the Hayok sector. Trim Marath, who has already been
feeling ill for some time, is shaken by cramps. Then
it happens. A whole star cluster suddenly emerges...

Kantiran carefully observes the reactions of his father to the news
of the newly emerged star cluster. Perry Rhodan does not let a sign
show externally whether the appearance of a whole star cluster from
nowhere impresses him. His face has frozen and shows no emotion.
While everyone still puzzles over the phenomenon, a small spaceship
of the USO announces itself. It is Atlan! The immortal Arkonide has
appeared at just the right moment and has them dock his ship as soon
as possible. Trim Marath, the Cosmotracker had forecast the event
with the comment, " something dreadful will happen". Space quakes,
like in the Hayok sector, were measured in several areas of the
Milky Way. Nobody aboard the LEIF ERIKSSON can yet say whether new
stars have appeared in these regions also. Nevertheless, one of the
areas lies very close to the Sol system, near the so-called Whistle
Nebula, only five hundred light years from Terra. When Atlan appears
in the Main Bridge of the LEIF ERIKSSON, he is also clueless about
the phenomenon. Atlan notes Kantiran and is briefly introduced by
Perry Rhodan. Nobody in Perry Rhodan's closest circle of friends yet
knows that Kantiran is the Resident's son. Before the conversation
can be continued, a naval federation of ten thousand units requested
by Perry Rhodan appears.

The Terran fleet has barely formed up, as the appearance of an
Arkonide naval fleet is announced. About fifteen thousand units from
the Crystal Empire have appeared on the edge of the new star
cluster. Perry Rhodan makes contact with the Arkonides to avoid any
possibility of conflict. A short time later Myles Kantor announces
his first appraisal. He theorizes that the new star cluster has not
been purposely materialized in the Hayok space, but that the new
suns have materialized due to the change of the hypercontinuum.
Oddly enough the same age is determined for the new suns as for the
stars of the Hayok-star archipelago, about eight billion years. The
Hayok stars and the stars of the new star cluster therefore
originated at the same time. Myles Kantor speculates that the new
suns, which could be measured at first only hyperphysically were
always a component of this cosmic region and have only now returned
to their original place. However, after this theory the question
presents itself of what process had removed the stars from their
original place? Because the star cluster stands out only on the
sensor screens, and is not visible yet in the normal universe, Perry
Rhodan gives it the name Camouflage.

Later Atlan arrives at Rhodan's cabin after Perry's request for a
private conversation. Perry Rhodan asks his old friend for advice
and tells him Kantiran's history. Atlan advises his friend to reveal
the truth about his son to the other immortals and to other than
that, address the subject very carefully. Atlan is also of the
opinion that Mondra Diamond has a right to find out the truth about
Kantiran. Perry Rhodan knows that his friend is right and follows
the advice of the immortal Arkonide. In a conference call in which
only the immortals and Perry Rhodan's closest confidants take part,
Perry Rhodan reveals the whole truth. Many of his closest friends
are dumbfounded, and Mondra Diamond is shocked. Still, Perry
Rhodan's explanation is accepted and now for many of his friends,
the sudden appearance Kantiran by Perry Rhodan's side becomes
understandable.

During the following day a new event occurs. Strong space quakes
again announce a forthcoming event, and then a planet falls into
normal space not far from the LEIF ERIKSSON. The planet can be
clearly measured and the sensors of the LEIF ERIKSSON give the
following data: Diameter: 3,788.9 kilometers, day night cycle: 187
days, rotation duration: 54.89 days, gravitation: 0.34 Gravos.
Strong differences in the temperature between the day and night side
of minus 190 degrees and plus 480 degrees Centigrade make an
infernal planet from the unknown world. Even if no central star is
visible in normal space, the planet still behaves in such a way as
if it is circling its sun. It is immediately checked, whether they
already dispose of data on this glowing world, but it is in vain.
The planet is completely unknown. Perry Rhodan spontaneously decides
on a landing mission to explore the foreign world. Atlan, who is
initially against a manned investigation, joins him. Kantiran also
volunteers for this mission and christens the planet with the name
Tantalus.

The investigation mission consists of the cruiser PHOENIX and a
Space Jet with which Perry Rhodan, Atlan and Kantiran approach the
planet Tantalus. The cruiser follows at a distance to be able to
intervene if necessary if the investigation team needs help. When
the small vehicle of the investigation team approaches the planet,
it disappears from the sensors of the cruiser. The investigation
team can also no longer measure the cruiser and obviously became a
part of the strange continuum in which Tantalus is at least partly
still embedded. Atlan and Perry Rhodan agree that they have
committed a mistake and gone too recklessly on the investigation of
the foreign planet. For a short time the PHOENIX appears on the
sensors and Perry Rhodan even manages to contact it, but then the
sensor picture grows pale again. Obviously, the PHOENIX temporarily
began to phase into the continuum in which the Space Jet is now, but
then returned to normal space.

The three realize that Tantalus holds still more dangers, as Atlan
flies to the surface and lands in a magma lake. Kantiran saves the
Arkonide from burning up with his with his SERUN. A short time later
Perry Rhodan is wrapped by a suddenly appearing energy swirl and
torn through an artificial tunnel system into the depth of the
planet. No other choice remains to Atlan and Kantiran than to follow
the tunnel. Several hundred meters under the surface the two find
the Resident uninjured and discover a subterranean city!

Perry Rhodan, Atlan and Kantiran come upon androids, which call
themselves Samadhi. The androids are obviously in need and inform
them that there are many subterranean cities on Tantalus, which are
threatened with immediate end. The androids speak of their goddess
who was once the sun. But this sun appears no more above the planet.
The androids may perish due to a lack of energy. Before the androids
withdraw again, Perry Rhodan asks them to let the three men return
to PHOENIX, so they can help the androids. Perry Rhodan, Atlan and
Kantiran are transported into free space where they are picked up
shortly after by the PHOENIX.

While the people are still analyzing the newly won knowledge, a new
visitor announces himself. It is Lotho Keraete who would urgently
like to speak with Perry Rhodan. Kantiran knows about the envoy of
ES from his earlier studies. He knows that he handed over one of ES'
cell activator chips to Bostich and was once earlier a Terran. Lotho
Keraete had brought a small, silver ball aboard with him and
explains which concerns it around one of the silver balls of the
Queriones. The silver balls, as Atlan and Perry Rhodan already know,
serve as transport spheres and are suitable for flying in space, as
well as into foreign continuums.

As usual, Lotho Keraete is sparing with answers to questions, which
he simply does not want or is able to answer. He does admit to not
be here on a mission on behalf of ES, but on his own decision. The
envoy of ES explains that he must go together with Perry Rhodan and
a third person to the star ocean of Jamondi and that time is
pressing. Kantiran immediately announces himself prepared to
volunteer to accompany Perry Rhodan, butteh envoy of ES decides
differently. It will be Perry Rhodan and Atlan that go aboard the
sphere. When Kantiran receives no further support from Perry Rhodan,
his Arkonide temperament flares up and he leaves the headquarters
furiously. While Perry Rhodan and Atlan prepare for their mission,
Kantiran makes preparations to leave the LEIF ERIKSSON with his own
ship the DIRICI. Not even his friend Mal Detair can keep him from
holding to his decision. Only one person shows up in the hangar when
they are leaving. It is Mondra Diamond! The Terran asks Kantiran to
wait and give his father a chance, but she cannot persuade the young
man to remain. With the latest news that all hyperradio connections
with the galaxies of the local group have collapsed, the DIRICI
leaves the hangar of the LEIF ERIKSSON.

Lotho Keraete, Perry Rhodan and Atlan fly with the silver ball of
the Queriones into the mysterious star cluster, which apparently
carries the name Star Ocean of Jamondi. When the silver ball flies
into the star ocean, unexpected phenomena occur. Perry Rhodan's and
Atlan's SERUNS start to glow and the heat becomes intolerable. Perry
Rhodan groans as he sees that the metal body of Lotho Keraete also
starts to glow. The envoy of ES is no longer touchable and does not
stir. On Perry Rhodan's urgent attempts to get further information
the envoy of ES whispers only: " The Bulwark of Parrakh may never ",
but then the voice of the envoy breaks off. When the silver ball
leaves hyperspace, the SERUNS of both immortals melt into slag. The
sphere falls towards an unfamiliar planet and crashes on the night
side of the world. Atlan just manages to drag Perry Rhodan from the
sphere, before the silver ball explodes in a violent explosion. The
two immortals look at each other dazed, because Lotho Keraete still
was aboard. It turns out that his body is still intact, but now
trapped deep within the refreezing ice.

ES' envoy Lotho Keraete is frozen under a thick sheet of ice at the
crash site of the silver transport ball. Perry and Atlan find
themselves robbed of their equipment and exposed to a frigid weather
of approximately minus 25°C. After a short debate over how to
proceed, Atlan becomes determined that they must located inhabitants
in this ice desert. Perry would have rather waited at the crash
site, but gives in and follows Atlan.

Close to frostbite, the companions meet a herd of manatee like
animals that reach up to three meters of length. The two succeed in
killing one of the animals with a stone. They climb inside the
cadaver, using the remainder of its body warmth to protect the men
for the night.

In a dream Perry Rhodan sees a humanoid woman with blue skin and
long golden fingernails. Her head is bald and she floats over the
snow. The Terran feels that he must follow her, but does not
understand why. When she turns and looks at him, he stares into icy
gray eyes.

The next morning, after waking up, the two men meet a group of
hunters from the race of the Vay Shessod, who remind them of upright
going raccoons with extra large hands. After the two Galactics
manage to make contact with sign language, they gradually learn the
language of the raccoon beings over the next few weeks.

The simple society of the Vay Shessod consists of a complicated
network of honor binding, stories and rituals. Perry and Atlan learn
that the world they are on is called Baikhal Cain. The Vay Shessod
live almost exclusively on the sea cow like animals they call
Keyzen. They clearly do not possess any real technology, and do not
even produce what technology they do have, but trade their catches
for technical devices in the city Ptumak. When the two immortals
want to immediately leave for the city, they are held back, having
to spend the rest of the hunting season with the Vay Shessod, which
lasts another hundred days. Only as Atlan and Rhodan save a group of
stranded hunters on the ice with their technical knowledge in an
emergency, are they allowed to leave out of gratitude to them. The
Vay Shessod build the two men a boat, with which they can reach the
city Ptumak.

Before leaving they experience still more stories and myths of the
strange world. Baikhal Cain is controlled by the Kybb Cranars; they
mine for valuable materials. One of the legends mentions that a long
time ago the Protectors of Jamondi and the Sentries watched over the
star ocean of Jamondi. They were destroyed by betrayal during
the "Cybernetic Night of Barinx ". Allegedly one of the Sentries is
said to have hidden away on Baikhal Cain. Perry Rhodan and Atlan say
good-bye in friendship and thank the raccoon like beings as they
begin their boat journey to Ptumak. This proves to be arduous,
dangerous and interesting, as well – as the boat is accompanied by
apparently intelligent "sea-cows".

Ptumak proves to be a backwater full of cutthroats carrying out
their dreadful affairs, in which there is however no major
technology. The two Galactics learn that the planetary capital is
called Baikhalis. Only this city can be their next goal, because
there is also a spaceport there.

At the Namoi station, where they hire themselves out as workers,
they begin to earn money as technicians for two riding animals for
the cumbersome trip to Baikhalis. Finally, on their way to the
capital they meet a strange being that seems to follow them on
a "Hover Trike". It is an approximately one and a half meter tall,
broadly built humanoid, who wears an oversized helmet. The person
does not react to the attempts by the immortals to make contract.

When they reach the vicinity of Baikhalis, in which they see an at
least five hundred meter wide castle of black metal and the space
port which holds a multitude of cube shaped ships on its landing
pads, they are attacked and paralyzed by some gliders and taken
prisoner together with other humanoids.

After Perry Rhodan and Atlan awaken from being knocked out, they
appear to be in a mine. They have collars around their necks that
cannot be removed; the other captive mineworkers call the collars
Krin Varidh. They are supposedly devices to keep anyone from
escaping. The other captives are all manlike beings, who call
themselves Motanas. They appear to be peace loving forest
inhabitants. The Kybb Cranar subjugates them, those beings that
reminded Perry and Atlan of upright walking 1.60 meter tall
hedgehogs. Each Kybb Cranar possesses two arms where in each case
one arm is an artificial prosthesis. The one that runs the mine is a
certain Raphid-Kybb-Karter, who turns out to be a cruel, sadistic
Kybb Cranar.

He demonstrates the effect of the collars on Atlan. It contains a
Neuroshocker to make the prisoners obey orders, and in addition the
collars will inject a poison that kills the bearer, if the timer in
the band is not reset each morning. The task of the prisoners in the
tunnels of the Holy Mountain is to mine the so-called foam opal.
These slaves are supported only by the Zuukims, domesticated
animals. The two immortals quickly determine that the Motanas
possesses a certain affinity for this foam opal, which is also
called the "blood of Veronis ", while the Galactics can find
practically no foam opal. Because they cannot hold up their end of
the daily quota, Perry Rhodan fears that it is only a question of
time, until the death sentence is pronounced over them. But the
Motanas help the two immortals, so that also they can fulfill the
quota. As Atlan tells colorful stories from his adventurous past,
Rhodan takes over the role of the supervisor and improves the work
and life conditions of the slaves in the mine.

Because the Kybb Cranar are apparently also suffering under the
increased hyperimpedance, the production quota is increased, but
there is no longer enough to cover for the two immortals. When Atlan
almost dies with a tunnel collapse and is buried in the mountain, he
has a strange meeting with the mysterious Veronis.

They turn out to be Motanas who went missing in the mines, and ended
up mutated by the radiation of the foam opal. They look like the
living dead, and are able to squirm their bodies through the
narrowest openings in the rock like snakes, and nourish themselves
on the "life energy" of their former comrades.

With the pressure from the Kybb Cranar, Atlan and Rhodan decide to
escape. The Motana Jadyel, who is dying anyway, wants to see the sky
again before his death, so he accompanies and helps them. All he
asks in return is that they try to get his personal effects to his
relatives after he dies. They find a forgotten tunnel, which will
lead to freedom and is not guarded. After they leave the abandoned
tunnel into the open air and a new day breaks, the collars, which
were not reset, inject their poison. Jadyel dies, but the two cell
activator bearers survive under great pains as the activator chips
fight off the poison.

The Kybb-Cranar pursue Perry Rhodan and Atlan. The two immortal’s goal is to reach the settlements of the Motana which - according to the Motana slaves in the Holy Mountain - are located in the forests of the planet, Baikhal Cain.

Meanwhile, the quotas of foam opal are doubled again. The new quota is considered too unrealistic and the director of the mine, Raphid-Kybb-Karter, revolts against the governor of the planet and takes his place. He is now the supreme leader of the entire planet.

Perry Rhodan and Atlan arrive in the forest. Every day the neck collars that they wear inject them with the deadly poison and both know they will eventually die from the poison despite their cellular activators. Contact is finally established with a group of Motana rangers. The leader of the group is Zephyda, a young, very attractive Motana with long red hair. At first there is mistrust but Atlan finally breaks the ice by giving Zephida the bag with Jadyel’s belongings. Zephyda recognizes the various objects in the bag since Jadyel happens to be her brother. She realizes that Jadyel died during his escape attempt.

The Motanas bring Atlan and Rhodan to their main residence. They live in the "Residence of Pardahn" in symbiosis with nature. The Motanas live in "nests" which are, in reality, platforms in the trees. The Global Majesty, the old woman who governs all Motanas, gives Atlan and Rhodan more information about the history of the Star Ocean and the Motana. She explains that the Motanas were previously a great people. The Motana settled on many planets, including Baikhal Cain, and were the masters of the Star Ocean before the “Cybernetic Night of Barinx”. However, this was many years ago and presently the Motana are enslaved everywhere by the Kybb-Cranar. There is no longer any contact between the various worlds.

The Motanas bring Atlan and Rhodan to a station of the Kybb-Cranar which they attack and take over. Here, Rhodan and Atlan are finally delivered from their neck collars. During the process, Rhodan and Atlan realize that the Motana still possess great technical knowledge despite the fact that they have returned to nature in their daily life. Atlan begins to fall in love with Zephyda.

After having their neck collars removed, they return to the “Residence of Pardahn” where they soon receive a visit from the strange creature on the Hover-Trike that they had observed during their journey to Baikhalis. His name is “Rorkhete the Nomad” and he is well known and respected by the Motana. He submits Rhodan and Atlan to a test, the ocean oracle having discovered in them a particular aura. Rorkhete want to know if they are the new the masters of the Star Ocean of Jamondi but the test is negative. The mysterious Rorkhete then departs.

For the time being, Rhodan and Atlan remain with the Motana because their presence gives new hope to the Motana even though they do not have the right aura.

The new governor of Baikhal Cain, Raphid-Kybb-Karter, must face the same problems as his predecessor. The Cybernetic Command always requires more foam opal. To achieve the higher requirements, the Raphid-Kybb-Karter improves the living conditions of the Motanas in the mine, thereby increasing their productivity. But he receives new orders and must deliver twenty-five thousand Motanas to orbiting fleet vessels. Twenty-five thousand Motanas equates to a tenth of the planet’s total population. He is forced to develop a plan, albeit one which turns out to be brilliant. He allows some slaves to escape from the mine after having them injected with nanomachines. These nanomachines permits the escaping Motanas to be tracked electronically. Thus, the Kybb-Cranar learn where the free Motanas’ hideouts are in the forest.

In the residence of the Motanas, Perry Rhodan has Lesyde, the younger syster of Zephyda, explain the culture of the Motanas to him. In exchange, he must tell her adventure stories. The girl is like all Motana - addicted to good stories. A big feast takes place, during which every Motana must sing a song. Atlan doesn't have any problem because he partners up with Zephyda, who he has fallen deeply in love with. Rhodan teams up with Lesyde but, unfortunately, she is not a good singer. They make due with the talents they do possess: Perry manufactures a flute and plays it while Lesyde dances. This ends up being the greatest sensation of the entire feast because until now the interplay of music and movement was completely unknown to the Motanas.

The feast ends abruptly when the Kybb-Cranars attack. For a short time it looks as if the Motana, as a result of their special mystical songs (or chorals), will be able to effectively defend against the attack, because under the song’s paranormal influence such devices as the Kybb-Cranar’s energy weapons and force fields fail. However, then spaceships, which hover over the settlement, attack and brutally suppress any resistance. The whole residence is destroyed and the “Global Majesty” is killed. Rhodan, Atlan, Zephyda and Lesyde flee but Lesyde is seriously wounded by the fall of a tree and ultimately dies. In the last minute, Rhodan, Atlan and Zephyda are saved by Rorkhete the Nomad who brings them, by way of his hovertrike, to a clearing where they are expected by the ocean oracle. The ocean oracle consists of a group of creatures which look like the manatees of earth. They are of the same species which Rhodan and Atlan met during their journey across the sea. The water creatures have psi faculties and teleports Rhodan, Atlan, Zephyda (who is severely injured), and Rorkhete to an unknown place.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Mal Detair and Kantiran have left the LEIF
ERIKSSON hastily and set course into free space. The Fuertone leaves no doubt
that he is unimpressed with Kantiran's ego trip. Mal Detair feels that to leave
the relative security aboard the LEIF ERIKSSON and the asylum of the Terrans,
is the wrong decision. Already after a brief time into their flight
inexplicable, engineering disturbances become apparent. The DIRICI seems to
lose energy and the speed of the Space Jet sinks rapidly. Kantiran can only
explain these effects by the changes announced by Perry Rhodan in
hyperresistance. Because the Gravityrafs energy converters of the jet overload
and threatens to collapse, nothing else is left for Kantiran and Mal Detair
other than to approach the next inhabited world. However, the next accessible
system is at the same moment the last place in the universe, that Kantiran and
Mal Detair might wish to be at the moment. Hayok! Hayok is firmly hands of the
arkonide members of the occupying forces and is currently being developed at
lightning speeds into a arkonide naval base. Kantiran is conscious that they
are still probably searching the whole region of the Crystal Empire for him.
Therefore, it is to be urgently required to veil their true identity so as not
to be arrested immediately on arrival. Therefore, the DIRICI becomes the
KOLTRA. Mal Detair manipulates the relevant entries in the ship syntronic and
both men even change the call sign of the ship to make the camouflage perfect.
Lastly, a fictitious third crew member is created to steer the arkonide
investigators onto the wrong track.

At the same time, the Terran League of Defence
(TLD) on Hayok is occupied very heavily. Dario da Eshmale who leads the terran
service and owns at the same time a perfect camouflage identity. The Arkonide
acts as an approved gourmet and has access to the highest social circles of the
Arkonides. From his confidential base on Hayok, to the so-called WAREHOUSE, he
co-ordinates the agent's activities of the TLD. When Mascant Kraschyn appears
on Hayok and many people disappear suddenly without a trace or are killed,
Dario da Eshmale is not certain at first certainly what the events seem to
signify. Only when Kantiran and Mal Detair are identified by the TLD, the
position becomes clearer. He observes how Kralasene instigate a guerrilla
warfare with the local SENTENZA, however he cannot concentrate on these
actions, because he is occupied with a second operation of enormous importance
to the Terrans. It is concerns the identification of an Oldtimer station on
Hayok which up to now went undiscovered and from which Lotho Keraete took the
silver sphere of the Querions. Lotho Keraete was observed on Hayok shortly
before he arrived on board the LEIF ERIKSSON. The supposition is obvious that
he has recovered his querionish silver sphere just as he had once recovered
Trerok from a secret source on Hayok. Dario is now attempting to find the
precise location of this source. With his investigations he discovers that
underneath the vast mountain range of the planet lies a complex cave system
about which nobody had previously been aware of its existence. This system can
be probably only now be located, after the changes in hyperresistance had
struck.

While Kantiran and Mal Detair try to overhaul
the KOLTRA in a shipyard Dario da Eshmale attempts to protect the pair of
refugees with his agents. It has been estimated that repairs would take
approximately two weeks which cause severe problems for Dario. The delay is
caused by the fact that DIRICI is not the only ship with problems in the
current climate. However, pair shortly manage to retreat into a cheap hotel.

Confusion increases steadily these days. Not
only does space flight become constantly more dangerous and more difficult,
also the syntronics turn increasingly more unreliable. In this situation the
KARRIBO and the LEOTARD land on Hayok. Dario da Eshmale is consciously aware of
the significance of this. The Mascant Ascari da Vivo and the Kralasene
Shallowain have arrived. In the end, the Oldtimer station can be localized by
Dario da Eshmale's agents in the Pen'rakli mountains.

Two Mascants, Kraschyn and Ascari da Vivo meet
to a hold confidential conversation. Bostich has new plans to expand his sphere
of influence farther and which also contain a specific military strike against
the LFT. The time seems favourable, because Perry Rhodan and Atlan are
considered missing and absent. Bostich is advancing to the South-Side of the
Milky Way thereby enclosing thus the sphere of influence the LFT. In the mid
term the imperator is aims to occupy Olymp and Siga. In progress from Bostich's
planning, Hayok has already developed into a strong fleet base. Therefore,
together with the KARRIBO and the LEOTARD some super-transporters are advancing
to Hayok, which carry the improved positronic components to arm Hayok.
Furthermore, the arkonide secret service has heard rumours of a project called
"PRAETORIA". What this is they have been unable to determine yet,
however, they assume that it concerns a military system, possibly a new weapon.

Ascari da Vivo is hidden all the time behind a
field visor and moves with a hover-chair. It is rumoured that she was
disfigured and seriously injured in the incident on Arkon. Nevertheless,
Mascantin continues to perform her role farther. Only one can signify two
Mascants on Hayok. One of the pair will lead the military strike against the
LFT, while the other stays behind on Hayok to control the naval base. The
arkonide attack seems to be approaching swiftly. The LFT reacts for their part
to the seeming menace and develops the planet Rumal as a base. Besides, the Terrans
quickly accelerate a confidential project with code-name PRAETORIA.

When Shallowain again takes up the trail of
Kantiran and Mal Detair, the hunt for the refugees begins immediately again.
Soon after they nearly fall victim to criminals who have seen Kantiran's white
credit chip, they can be traced to the terran enclave the Etymba. At first the
pair are able to escape by fleeing from the Celistas, however, in the end they
fall into the hands of Shallowain, the dog. The Kralasene stuns the refugees
and freights Kantiran and Mal Detair in his glider. The destiny of both seems
to be sealed.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

The Star Window in the Hayok Sector there
remained three Window Stations and allows a connection with the distant far
galaxy Tradom. News reaching the Milky Way over the Star Window expels
unambiguously any doubts that the change of the hyperphysical resistance also
occurs in Tradom. There is no more doubt that the changes announced by the
Cosmocrats in the hyperresistance, really concerns the whole universe as that
distant galaxy is over 400 million light years away. On the 7th September 1331
NGCS the Star Window starts to flicker suddenly and finally breaks down
completely. The connection can no longer be more produced. Whether the
Galaxians stationed on Tradom's side will be able to one day return to the
Milky Way, is doubtful. More and more frequent hyperstorms appear in the Milky
Way and increasingly there are failures of hypertechnology. At first only
Transmitter connections and Over-light flight were impaired, however, now false
functions of modern Syntrons also develop. What begins with tiny divergences of
arithmetic achievement, ends more and more often in serious false circuits. In
the end, Reginald Bull gives the order to move the LEIF ERIKSSON entirely onto
positronic workings. To their dismay the Syntrons that control flight traffic
over the capital of Hayok, Vhalaum, fail causing the crashes of several ships.

Meanwhile Trim Marath and Startac Schroeder
have infiltrated onto the planet Hayok with a Space Jet. Both monochrome
mutants are to support the TLD operation team active on site under the
direction of Trevor Leyson, with their investigations of the Oldtimer's
station. Also the Terran woman Lyra Morgen, one of the best TLD experts for
pre-terran history, belongs to the group. The location of the ancient station
of the Oldtimers was already identified, however, in spite of intensive efforts
no entrance could be yet be found in the Pen’rakli mountain range. Now with the
help of Startac's teleportation ability this problem should be solved. However,
the Teleporter notices that it takes much more mental energy than usual to
transport the team as though something is opposing his action. When the team
penetrates using teleportation into the station of the Oldtimers and makes the
first investigations, the Terrans encounter numerous engineering artefacts of
the Oldtimers. Indeed the Station is a twin of that found on Impos. In the
station energy still exists which after so long a time speaks very highly of
the engineering superiority of the Querions. Trim Marath gives the urgent
target of the operation. It is a matter of finding one of those silver spheres
which was used by Lotho Keraete as a means of transport into the Star Ocean of
Jamondi. Such a silver sphere was also recently used against the Realm of
Tradom by the Zalitian, Trerok. It is hoped that in recovering one of the
spheres that they will have a means to follow Rhodan and Atlan into the Star Ocean. The mutant feels an unknown presence in the station, almost in such a way, as
if living beings still existed.

While the Terrans relatively simply receive
access to the computer systems of the station and with it start to recall the
first data and evaluate it, Startac Schroeder and Trim Marath discover in
another part of the arrangement an active transport field. Both mutants enter
the venture and can be radiated by the Transmitter. The purpose station is a
kind of space lens, a small capsule which lies obviously anchored deep in the
corona of the Hayok sun. Startac Schroeder and Trim Marath are fascinated by
their discovery, because near the space lens which permits a clear view into
the Sun corona there are numerous other objects still to see. Besides, among
the rest there are immense space stations which are parked deep inside of
Hayok's sun, which neither Terrans nor Arkonides had been able to locate up to
now. The gigantic space stations are guarded with strong protection fields by
the Sun Corona. However, Startac Schroeder and Trim Marath observe also the
destruction of such a space station whose protection field has broken down
obviously just at this moment. The mutants suppose the cause of the disaster in
the failure of important, engineering components which are based on
hypertechnology and by which were affected by the rising hyperresistance. Another
speculation of the mutants refers to the stations themselves which could stand
in connection with the star ocean and to its surroundings Hyper cocoon.

In meantime on the LEIF ERIKSSON they become
aware of an object which has just been thrown from hyperspace and entered in
the normal universe. It was a planet without a sun. Fran Imith and Reginald
Bull find numerous corpses of former inhabitants on the rapidly cooling planet.
Evidently the beings were surprised in the middle of their everyday work and
were killed. Investigations prove that the inhabitants, Ithanten as they were
called and the planet was used almost exclusively for agrarian purposes. The
Ithanten look coarsely manlike. The average body height of these beings amounts
to 1.20 meters. The body the Ithanten is hairless, the head spherical with big,
semicircular ears. With the yellowish eyes and the level nose, the faces the
Ithanten remind something like koala bears. Instead of teeth the Ithanten own
chewing strips. The hands and feet are six jointed and the hands are fitted out
with two thumbs. In orbit around the planet a space station is discovered on
which similarly dead beings are found, indeed, they belong to another species.
From the little information that can be determined the beings that are similar
to hedgehog are called Kybb-Cranar and have died of the same cause as the
planetary inhabitants. Surprisingly, all the "hedgehogs" had allowed
an exchange one of their arms for a prosthesis. Whether the Kybb-Cranar had the
task to guard or protect the planet's inhabitants remains unsettled.

Startac Schroeder and Trim Marath have returned
to the station of the Oldtimers and report about their discovery. The TLD
specialists have likewise made a step headway and had been able to select a log
file from the station computer which indicates a status of up until now unknown
suns of the Hayok star archipelago. About a hundred thousand years of steady
values seem to change only very recently. Again Trim Marath makes a connection
with the Star Ocean, the space stations inside the sun of Hayok and the
changing hyperresistance. The failure and exploding these space stations could
stand with the appearance of the Star Ocean and the change in connection.
Nevertheless, the final proof is missing.

Trim Marath is still struck by the strange
feeling that there is still life in the station. When the mutant investigates,
he finds into a row of Oldtimer statues as they were already discovered with
earlier investigations. Nevertheless, these statues seem to carry a form of
life within themselves and proceed to announce themselves by mental mental
means as "guardians in the hyperfield". One of them, Forenthique
seems to consider the mutant's team an annoyance, and the mental onrush of the
guard's attack releases a defence reaction with Trim Marath and the black twin
appears. Trim Marath's unaware mind projection destroys the Oldtimer statues
and the mental pressure disappears. When the operation team of the station
wants to leave them again Trim Marath delays. The mutant feels an immense
hyperstorm approaching which is also able to influence the Teleportation
abilities of Startac Schroeder. The team of the Pretonier is caught for the
time being in the sub planetary arrangements.

Also on the LEIF ERIKSSON the approaching
hyperstorm is registered. However, much more importantly an announcement of the
terran cruiser PAKKATO which has made a menacing discovery. The Crystal Empire
seems to pull together at this moment a large number of GWALON battleships in
the detection shade of the nearby sun H-076. Reginald Bull interprets this
manoeuvre as a forthcoming military action against the LFT and recalls Julian
Tifflor with immediate effect from Arkon. Now Julian Tifflor's place is in the
Sol system, while Reginald Bull remits further orders to the solar fleet. The
operation fleet of Hayok from Rumal is moved into action and Reginald Bull
gives the PRAETORIA the instruction to follow as quickly as possible. What is
hidden exactly behind PRAETORIA, is still confidential and is not even known to
the commander of the LEIF ERIKSSON. Another disconcerting announcement reaches
the LEIF ERIKSSON shortly after. The stations of the star window which had
already ceased to function have fallen back from their higher -dimensional
location into normal space. Reginald Bull allows to immediately draw off all
Terrans from the stations because he must fear that the Arkonide could abuse
the Terran as hostages. The residence minister for defence is sure that the
stations will be worthless shortly anyway. This counts with high likelihood not
only to the window stations, but to almost all operations basing on
hypertechnology on which the galactic civilization is founded.

Trim Marath - scenes of a life: on the return
flight of the SOL from the Maelstrom of Stars, Trim Marath falls in love with
the Kamashitin, Zitonie. Both wish desperately for a child, but however they
require the support of a doctor, because monochrome mutants are infertile. For
modern medicine it is no problem to initiate artificial conception,
nevertheless, the executive doctor pronounces a clear warning. Nobody can
exactly say with any certainty what will result from the abilities anchored in
the genotype of his parents for the child. Nevertheless, Trim Marath and
Zitonie stick to their wish and, in the end, their son Creider is born. Trim
Marath soon recognizes that Creider evidently possesses like his father some
unusual abilities. One days the boy hides in a wardrobe. When Trim searches for
him there, he cannot find him, nevertheless he was there all the time. Later as
the boy explains, he did not wish to be found, and so he wasn't. When one day
the boy, still in the cradle, after a quarrel wishes his father dead, Trim
Marath's black twin materialises. Zitonie is just able to an bring Creider to
safety and Trim Marath is shaken deeply. The monochrome mutant must have felt
an unaware fear of death before his son which allowed to appear the black twin.
After this incident, just as the SOL had reached the Solar system, Zitonie with
Creider leaves her husband and forces Trim Marath to promise not to look for
them. The monochrome mutant may no more come to close to the boy. Trim Marath
agrees to Zitonie's wishes and is alone from now on again. Where Zitonie has
exactly turned, is unknown to him. The Kamashitin is possibly aboard SOL, under
the command of Ronald Tekener; Dao Lin-H’ay and Blo Rakane which has embarked
to the galaxy Hangay.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Dario da Eshmale, member of the arkonide
nobility class, and approved top gourmet in the whole Crystal Empire and leader
of the terran league service on Hayok has fulfilled part of his orders to
identify the station of the Oldtimers but his opponents have pre-empted him:
Kantiran and Mal Detair are again in the hands of the Arkonides. Because Dario
still does not know exactly who Kantiran is, he descends into the depths of the
WAREHOUSE: there, at the lowest level, lives Mayk Molinas, named "The
Mole", an eccentric genius. Mole makes discrete investigations, but only
however, discovers that Kantiran committed an attempt on Ascari da Vivo's life
- otherwise the systems tapped by him contain no information. Officially
Kantiran is considered dead. While Eshmale still considers why the two men are
so important to the Terrans and how, with around everything going on in the
world, he will be able to release them from the very secure headquarters of the
Arkonides, particularly as agents are barely available to him for the moment,
unexpected guests appear: the mouse beaver Gucky and the Halutian Icho Tolot.
The pair set down to help in the rescue action.

Kantiran and Mal Detair are in the power of
Shallowain, the dog. The Kralasene puts his prisoners to the Ganbaraanish
torture bed, a highly painful and tormenting ordeal which nobody can keep up
for long without becoming insane. For Kantiran the world sinks into pain. The
Star Cross-breed already concludes his life is over when he receives a visit.
Ascari da Vivo appears personally at the torture bed of her son. However,
Kantiran can expect no compassion, at most the death sentence from the mouth of
his own mother. Ascari da Vivo, still covered from the raid on Arkon, hides her
appearance behind a distortion field. For Kantiran she briefly opens the screen
and shows him her distorted face which is a meshwork of scar tissue, sickening
to behold. Kantiran feels no remorse. He knows that Ascari da Vivo was the wire
puller behind the murder of his beloved Thereme and and Shallowain was the
means to her demise. Ascari da Vivo has only hatred for Kantiran and announces
that he is to be transported shortly by Shallowain to Arkon to receive the
death sentence by Bostich personally. Then he should go to Celkar where the
judgment should be passed and he be executed by the Infinitives. For Kantiran
that is just beginning of his wish for martyrdom. Furthermore, in her somewhat
unhinged mental state, Ascari da Vivo makes hints about an imminent military
strike against the LFT.

Kantiran cannot anticipate that at this time
help has already arrived on Hayok which sets itself the task of his freeing.
The mouse beaver Gucky and the Halutian Icho Tolot are included to strengthen
the TLD troop under Dario da Eshmales. Icho Tolot calculates with high
likelihood that Kantiran and his friend should first be taken to Arkon.
Eshmale, who was informed meanwhile about the fact that Kantiran is the son of
Perry Rhodan and Ascari da Vivo plan the freeing action. Neither an attack on
the headquarters of the Arkonides nor on the ship of Shallowain promises
success, hence, they decide to waylay the prisoner's transport. In the absence
of staff the Mole should also take part in the action. The eccentric does not
likes this at all. Not only because he should leave his mole construction and
the fact he mistrusts the Ilt on account of his telepathic abilities - he
"might be spied out", but also because an immense hyperstorm is
imminent. Still, it is a matter of looking for ways to intercept the prisoner's
transport before arrival on Shallowain's flagship LEOTARD to release Kantiran.
Aggravatingly an approaching hyperstorm of never before registered magnitude
has manifested itself in Hayok's immediate vicinity. Not since Meg Skala, has a
storm ever reached such measured values. The Arkonides call the hyperstorm
Qa'pesh which signifies “awful pack”, “wild hunter” or "beasts".
After the recent data Qa'pesh moves exactly towards Hayok and instils in
everyone the fear for the formation of a dreaded Tryortan throat. With the
hyperstorms that cross a certain strength threshold, a kind of epicentre forms
which radiates all bodies in its sphere of influence into the Void. What
exactly happens if a Tryortan throat collides with a planet, cannot be
forecast. There are no ranges of experience about such an incident in history.
The only positive aspect in the chaos around Hayok is that the evacuation of
Kantiran and Mal Detair is delayed, as departure under these conditions is simply
not safe. The duo wish to use the resulting chaos and confusion of the storm to
help free Kantiran and his friend.

When the storm reaches Hayok, it brings strange
effects. Amongst others, dimensional distortions cause the receipt of radio
messages from past eras. Gucky and Icho Tolot, still hold fast onto their plan
to release Kantiran. Shallowain who probably counts on an attack sends several
transport columns on different routes on the way to confuse potential
attackers. Indeed, over 100 fight Gliders are included in the convoy, but Gucky
manages, thanks to his paragift and a little headwork to identify that Glider
in which Kantiran and Mal Detair are, but the superior strength of the
opposition is crushing. Because Paratrons and Syntrons on both sides have
failed, the TLD team thanks to Tolot's level brain has an important strategic
advantage. Qa'pesh creates bewildering surroundings in which Icho Tolot can
orientate himself only with great effort. When the fight seems already lost
almost for the TLD agents and Shallowain stands shortly before his triumph, the
unexpected happens.

The TLD and pilot and agent Mayk Molinas (the
"mole") intervenes with a high tech gimmick developed by him. The
eccentric, shy computer specialist has already examined for some time the
gathering hyperstorms and has found a chance to strengthen the effects of such
storms for a short time in locally restricted areas. Thus he generates a space
time fold round the Gliders which is partitioned off from the normal universe.
The prisoner's Glider, also containing Gucky and Tolot, collides with his own
and they crash. After impact, they all find themselves scattered in the Hayok
zoo which seems to be enclosed by a kind of dimension bubble. Kantiran and Mal
can free themselves from their chains and flee, however, almost immediately
Shallowain and the Kralasene on are their heels. Several times, Kantiran is
able to bring some zoo animals under his mental control and get them to help
them to escape from the pursuers. The mole, who was shot from the ejector seat
seat from the falling Glider must only search his way at first for himself,
then however, he meets the robot Eiklpalin. The robotic animal attendant takes
Mole to the control central of the zoo, where he is able to manipulate devices
there so that they can neutralize the dimensional distortion. Tolot drags the
unconscious Gucky through the outdoor enclosures in search of Kantiran. Only
when he wades in a sea in which contains piranha-like fish who want to enjoy
the pair as a meal, does the mouse beaver awake from their painful bites.
Meanwhile also, Gucky gets into a time loop before which he cannot free himself
easily.

Shallowain is close to seizing Kantiran and Mal
and is just about to open fire, as Tolot and Gucky from one side, and Mole from
the other side appear. On account of the hyperstorm Gucky cannot use his
paragift, so that the Halutian and the Ilt almost arrived too late. The Mole
deflects Shallowain's weapon arm with the tractor ray projector of the
Veterinary robot. Shallowain's next shot causes the Robot to explode by which
mole becomes seriously injured. Then Tolot is near, and against the Halutian
even Shallowain does not have the smallest chance. With his last strength Mole
manages to lift the dimension distortion by manipulation of the Gravityrafs of
the zoo. However, in doing so the Arkonides can also reach the zoo: the area
barely becomes visible in normal space again, when the LEOTARD whizzes close
by. Gucky teleports the small group to safety in the security of the WAREHOUSE,
nevertheless, they must leave behind Shallowain.

The hyperstorm fades away on the 9th September
again; it has caused heavy damages in the whole archipelago. Mole - in reality
a woman - is put in a regeneration tank. During the same day Ascari da Vivo
makes all battleships of 2nd Imperial fleet ready for takeoff.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

In the LFT base world Rumal, originally
furnished as a counterbalance to the arkonide presence in the Hayok sector, the
work on the secret project PRAETORIA runs at full speed. The project is so
confidential that even the specialists involved in the project barely know the
details. The persons who take important key functions in PRAETORIA must undergo
at certain distances a procedure with which the attained knowledge is hidden
behind a thought block.

Rumal is also a location of the operation fleet
of Hayok which encloses more than 26,000 primary units, as well as
fragment-spacers of the Posbis. Only 1000 units of the Discoverer class Type
II, also called Saturn class, belong to the allied fleet in the Malby system.
Together with 250 pontoon tenders, the DISCOVERERs form the special fleet
DISCOVERERS II. The Saturn class which is manufactured thanks to the Posbis now
in series shows an advancement over the old DISCOVERER. Besides, the Saturn
class places an even higher redundancy of most varied systems as one finds them
also on the old DISCOVERERS. Besides, the Saturn class has so-called,
low-level-technology and is prepared especially for operation which can be
deployed in the shortest time, thanks to advanced modular construction methods.
If one calculates 60 sloop cruisers per DISCOVERER as independent units, then
already there is a contingent of 61,250 ships. In addition, the Hayok operation
fleet includes: 1000 ELIMINATOR battleships of the ODIN type, equipped with a
total of 12,000 VESTA cruisers.

2500 heavy fight cruisers of the NEWKREIT type
(265 meters of cell diameter). 2500 heavy cruisers of PROTOS type, with 200
meters diameter. 750 Great- freighters, constructed on the ship cell of a
Posbi-spacer with 3000-meter edge. The ships placed at disposal by the Posbis
of the new Quasar class put out the main interest of the fleet stationed in the
Malby system. 50,000 units of the so-called LFT Boxes, each with an edge length
of 3000 meters and are designed as Omni-ultrabattleships for multiple
operation, are also stationed in the Malby system. The ships placed at the
disposal by the Posbis which show essentially stronger smoothed contours than
the known fragment-spacers are fitted out with plasma components, biopositronic
components and modular technology to be able to adapt themselves any time to
the changing conditions of hyperresistance. According to the old tradition of
the Posbis, the LFT boxes are called LFT-BOX-00.001 TO LFT-BOX-50.000.

And then there is still the secret project
PRAETORIA.

PRAETORIA, whose project engineering began in
1315 NGC at the same time as the construction of the Rumal base could be
realized only with massive participation of the Posbis and their industrial
worlds in the intergalactic empty space. Only the project engineering, planning
and preparations of the project ran for ten years. With the construction of
PRAETORIA the operation of high technology was totally renounced. PRAETORIA is
built up completely modular and exists of 116 cube cells with 3000-meter edge.
The cube ships, each one an Omni-ultrabattleship of the quasar class, can fit
together to form a bigger structure, existing of a core cell and side arms
which form a kind of spatial cross formation. PRAETORIA therefore reveals
itself to be a self-sufficient multifunctional base of the LFT which can
uncouple its Omni ships, or, alternatively act as a compact form of unbelievable
fighting power. In the centre of PRAETORIA the so-called core cell sits,
actually, a spacer of the Jupiter class, with 2500 meters of diameter. In a
precisely carried out manoeuvre, PRAETORIA can fragment itself or defragmentate
which equates to dissolving or reforming the structure. In the cross structure
PRAETORIA's built-in shafts serve as a several kilometers long shipyard and
hangar area which can be flooded when required with atmosphere. If PRAETORIA is
defragmentated completely, it produces a body with a maximum length of 21,000
meters. PRAETORIA can completely disassemble (fragmented) and forms together
with all sloops an efficient fleet which is not impaired by the
hyperresistance. In the compound (defragmentated) state PRAETORIA is an invincible
space station capable of flight with and whose 960 broadside Transform Cannons
can be synchronized more precisely than it would be ever possible with a
spaceship fleet. The standard crew encloses 43,000 persons who are subjected to
a hierarchical command structure which orientates itself by those of the Solar
Empire. Then there are 2,190,000 Posbis. The Commander of PRAETORIA is Colonel
Vaccon, a Vincraner who always appears in company of his dumb twin brother
without rank, Siamogh. Both are mutants and have the ability to feel
hyperphysical events split seconds beforehand. PRAETORIA's energy supply is
guaranteed by Nug-black shield reactors and coalescence power stations. The
central ball and all 116 LFT-BOXes have biopositronic calculator networks which
form a networked gigantic calculator with name PRAETOR in the defragmentated
state. The ships have proton ray-impulse engines and a linear impulse which was
developed from modified Kalup converters. These "Hawks", offer the
best possible results and should also be able to achieve well under the
influence the hyperresistance.

The position in the Milky Way gets visibly
worse. Together with the Qa'pesh hyperstorm which pulls Hayok with still never
registered fierceness by the system of the sun another push is registered in
the rise of the hyperresistance. Reginald Bull knows exactly that recently in
the detection shade of the sun H076 a discovered fleet of GWALON, a shortly
indicates a forthcoming military strike of Arkon. Evidently imperator Bostich
wants to use the topical position to expand his empire farther and to take
areas beyond the LFT. Nevertheless, Reginald Bull is not ready to withdraw
farther from the Hayok sector and to leave the field to the Arkonides. Of the
Star Ocean of Jamondi and the dangers possibly linked with it, as well as the
destiny Perry Rhodan and Atlan, are reason enough to hold the position.
Therefore, Reginald Bull plans to go on the offensive and to cross the
evidently called war plans of the Arkonides. The Residence Minister for defence
puts the operation fleet of Hayok onto the march and calls for PRAETORIA. With
that order the immense fight station stands on the brink of her first acid
test.

Reginald Bull's plan includes the occupation of
an unimportant planet which lies, however, within the Hayok sector and is
currently claimed by the Arkonides. A contingent of the Hayok fleet, as well as
750 Great-transporters of the Posbis head for the only desolate planet of the
sun H-044. The planet, named Lump-44, was taken in a flash action and be
developed as a base. The move succeeds and the Arkonides are up suddenly
against a terran garrison in her sphere of influence. Reginald Bull's action
forces the Arkonides to the change their thinking. The old attack plans are
rejected and Ascari da Vivo appears with her clenched armed forces in the
system of the sun H-044. The Mascantin does not stay long with negotiations and
gives the attack order to her fleet. Therefore it comes after long period of
coexistence to the first direct military confrontation between the Crystal
Empire and the LFT.

Reginald Bull likewise gives the operation
order for his armed forces and in the system of Lump-44 an unequal battle
breaks out. According to figures considered fleet of the Arkonide, hits on a
fleet determined in the defence of the Terran. Still during the fighting the
relations get worse concerning the hyperresistance once more and influences
directly the fighting unit. Among other things the efficiency of the Transform
Cannons decreases increasingly which the Arkonides compensate by operation of
their heavy interval emitters. The fight moves to and fro and develops visibly
worse for the Terrans. Then, finally, PRAETORIA appears and intervenes. The
enormous battle station possesses huge fight potential to which the Arkonides
have nothing to oppose. The Arkonides must withdraw after the briefest time.
Ascari da Vivo has suffered a destructive defeat and has lost the battle.
Reginald Bull looks at the attack of Arkon as the beginning of a not yet
officially explained war. Still, the Terran could assert themselves, develop
Lump-44 as a base and station PRAETORIA. Reginald Bull's reckless coup has
succeeded. Whether the LFT has won important gains in the longer term, however,
seems doubtful. In the whole galaxy the Hyper-radios links break down, the
impulses of the spacers create only fractions of their normal output - it looks
as if it was the plan of the Cosmocrats to dam life in on itself. The age of
hypertechnology comes to an abrupt end.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

The rise of the hyperphysical resistance shows
not only serious effects for space travel, but hinders or disturbs almost all
aspects of the everyday life. In the 14th century NGC Syntrons have become a
natural and vital system in all areas of the everyday life. The enormous energy
amounts which are devoured in the maintenance of this lifestyle, especially in
high technology towns like Terrania, must constantly be tapped from hyperspace.
Almost the whole industrial production is guaranteed by fully robotic
arrangements. Although the Terrans have appeared to cope still best of all on
the results of the changes, apocalyptic states rule on the Earth. Transmitter
connections, essential for the solar economy and the care of the Terrans, are
all but useless. Hyper-radios links to the distant, then also to close
colonies, break off. On the events taking place beyond the Solar System
nowadays there can be only be speculation. Syntronics, the most modern and most
efficient products of terran technology, turn out to be most susceptible. Also
NATHAN, although already mainly moved to positronic components, is concerned.
For the terran economy a rapid decline begins and the economy stands on the
brink of collapse.

These effects are disastrous, although since
his return from the Maelstrom of Stars, Perry Rhodan has acted rapidly to
counteract against such a disaster by establishment of " Low Level technology
". The terran economy, still almost breaks down. Spaceship traffic is
still possible, but very much restricted. One of the last spaceships to arrive
on Terra, is a trade spacer of TAXIT with Homer G. Adams aboard. In this
awkward situation Homer G. Adams returns on his home planet. Just as his three
thousandth birthday takes place. Thanks to the cell activator, Homer G. Adams
is the oldest living Terran, older even than Perry Rhodan. The finance genius
wants to offer his services to the LFT and support humanity with the
deconstruction of the economy and the fractured infrastructure. Homer G. Adams
is conscious that has met other centres of the Milky Way if possible even
stronger than the Earth. Eventually the people will take over the guiding role
in the Milky Way which rapidly is facing the changed conditions. Homer G. Adams
received from Maurenzi Curtis, and without great fuss raised to the status of
a residence minister. A short time later Homer G. Adams is sworn before the
parliament by Maurenzi Curtis. The LFT transfers to him the responsibility over
the financial resources, economy, reconstruction and structural change. Homer
G. Adams sets himself promptly to work, because great efforts are necessary to
detain the collapse of the existing system. He is supported vigorously by most
Terrans- from the simple worker up to the well high level enterprise leaders,
who all deal have to deal in their own way with their many areas of work as
quickly as possible to adjust to "desyntronisation " and companies, manufacturing
sites, power stations and all other systems are to be converted to a simpler
positronic control.

Further events take their turn. The Solar
Residence must be moved on emergency workings and the steel orchid is uncoupled
from her Antigrav mount and is lowered in the residence sea. The crystal
screen, the best protection of the Solar System, breaks down and can no longer
be re-established. GALORS is no more accessible and also delivers no more data.
The contacts with the great stock exchanges of the Milky Way break off.
Strongly the new TLD Tower is also concerned in Terrania. Equipped till the
last corner with ultramodern technology, the system breaks down almost
suddenly. Noviel Residor must look with at how the league service loses more
and more function and effectiveness. Julian Tifflor, ordered by Perry Rhodan to
Earth, works day and night on turning around the chaos for humanity. Besides,
all resources are required to maintain the vital functions. Nevertheless, the
TLD does not belong to it during these days which leads to violent discussions
between Residor and Tifflor.

As already so often in the history of humanity,
the worse can be prevented, while all help together and improve by immense
strength efforts and personal operation of the position. The energy supply of
Terrania can be restored and the position starts to stabilize. Myles Kantor who
works with the terran scientists under high pressure on the investigation of
the phenomenon concludes that the hyperphysical resistance has probably levelled
out at its new value. Further changes are not registered for the time being.
Thanks to the farsighted planning Perry Rhodan, the planets of the LFT stand a
good chances, because, unlike for example the Arkonides. they have made done
most planets of the LFT self-supportive and had also begun to build up
low-level-technology. Hence, it is not long until NATHAN on is moved to
biopositronic workings and is guaranteed to the basic care of the people.

However, in times like these there are also
other, less reassuring signals. Thus dubious preachers appear who announce the
advent of the end of time. One of these preachers who is revered by his
followers as a medium is Carlosch Imberlock. Imberlock, a hypnotically gifted
Terran pronounces the words of his God Gon-Orbhon who stands for the setting of
existing order. Only those who confess themselves to Gon-Orbhon, are saved and
resurrected after death. For all others effacement threatens. He and his
followers vigorously reject the measures being established to combat changes in
hyperresistance.

The LFT leadership who is occupied day and
night with the crisis management views these new preachers and sectarians with
displeasure. Their activity is devastating and dangerous. Soon there follows a
serious accident, as a follower of the new sect steers a Glider into a
coalescence reactor. With the sabotage over four hundred people are killed. The
incident serves to give Carlosch Imberlock a little more attention to his
activities...

In spite of all Julian Tifflor can undertake
nothing against Carlosch Imberlock, even if Noviel Residor would arrest the
self appointed preacher best immediately. Julian Tifflor is not to be shaken
from his firm resolution to the basic parties of the democracy and to pass
through the crisis. This is an occasion enough to place at disposal all
necessary means for the TLD, so that against the sectarians can become gone
forward. The attack remains for the time being an isolated case and the
positive news predominates: the energy supply in Terrania is guaranteed all
over the country with coalescence reactors and soon there are the first Trivid
broadcastings again. However, the solar residence remains anchored for the
present in her base - as there is not enough available energy to let float again
on her usual place above the skyline of Terrania.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

The position on Terra is still critical but
Homer G. Adams and Julian Tifflor further consolidate the march towards Terra's
reconstruction. Although there is no concrete proof, the pair assume that
hyperresistance will remain on raised on a continuing basis. Therefore, it is
decided that all high tech facilities, as far as they belong to the state, are
reequipped with still functioning lower level technologies. What cannot be
reequipped, should be scrapped. However, in case that the previous levels of
hyperresistance returns, they should retain property etc at 50% of their old
value but it should remain untouched by the LFT. Adams is responsible
furthermore for the economic development on Earth, Tifflor concentrates upon
the space fleet to enable re-contact with other solar systems.

The large dependence of the Terrans on
hypertechnology, turns out to be a difficult hurdle. While one still discusses
in the circle of the scientists and immortals whether the increase is the
hyperresistance is of a permanent or only temporary nature, more and more
followers assemble round the dubious preacher Carlosch Imberlock. Mondra
Diamond and Bré Tsinga keep an eye on the activities of the preacher who claims
himself to be the medium of the God, Gon-Orbhon.

Meanwhile, Theorod Eysbir, an unemployed
syntronics engineer, almost becomes a victim of a bomb attack on his former
firm. Unfortunately he is mistaken for one of the assassins arrested and is by
the authorities.

The contents of his sermons have not changed
and the number of his followers grows steadily. On occasion there are attacks,
always by militant disciples of Gon-Orbhon who want to thwart the
reconstruction of Terra by force. Important points of the terran infrastructure,
thus, for example, a work are always concerned for urgent required, positronic
construction elements, in the town Xian. In spite of these terrorist actions,
the authorities cannot arrest Carlosch Imberlock or hinder his sermons, because
it cannot be proved that he has direct responsibility for the the attackers.
Carlosch Imberlock states, that he is not directly involved and that he does
not incite anybody to acts of violence. At least they are unable to proves
anything. His "normal" followers, simply succumb to his charismatic
radiance, and do not seem to be dangerous. It is different with the fanatics.
These have in common, namely a dream to which makes them into potential
terrorists. In the dream the people see a sea in which a sword is, and floating
above its flawless surface is a colossal humanoid: Gon-Orbhon. He appears as a
dreadful, immense, and omnipotent being. His eyes are closed, however, they
will soon open. Only those will survive who believe in him and renounce
technology. To whom this dream appears, they become like they are hypnotized
and act like fanatics. Indeed it is possible to defend against its influence,
but most people in the confusion and insecurity of these days lack this
strength.

Mondra Diamond and Bré Tsinga, who observe the leader
of the sect at a rally cannot deny that Carlosch Imberlock possesses a certain
charisma. in addition, Mondra Diamond discovers to her surprise that the words
of the preacher exercise a certain effect on them. Nevertheless, the state
minister cannot explain the precise kind of influence. It seems Imberlock can
exercise on many of his listeners an almost magic influence. Mondra feels this
on her own body. It is difficult for her to defend itself against the
trance-like state into which she repeatedly sinks and during this experiences
the vision-like dream of the arrival of Gon-Orbhon. It effects others even
worse: a young woman, for instance, disintegrates herself during one of
Imberlock's to appearances because this was supposedly ordered to her by the
mysterious divinity. Also the restrained Bré Tsingas gives up on Mondra
Diamond's puzzle. The Cosmopsychologist suddenly disappears and is unable to be
found. Uneasy Mondra Diamond sets out to search for her.

After Theorod Eysbir's innocence has been established
and he was let go again, he wanted to meet his daughter. To his horror he
discovers that she became a Gon-Orbhon follower, and has committed suicide in
his name. In his pain he swears revenge - and visits the police station in
which he was arrested to procure for himself a weapon by force.

When Mondra Diamond recognizes, finally, that
the the number of the militant sect members grows steadily, she gets in mortal
danger. Even children have already gone to ruin through being influenced by the
sect. As a token of their unity, the members tattoo on themselves the mark of
their God on their breast, a sword before a recumbent oval. In addition, the
numerous sect members have in common an inexplicable dream experience, as many
followers report. Obviously a strong influence is passed out from this dream.
She clashes with Gon-Orbhon followers. A group youngsters with the tattoo
symbol, paralyzes the former TLD agent ties her up near a bomb. Nevertheless,
she is saved in the last second by Jordo Alpha, a boy from her neighbourhood
whom she had once been kind to. Indeed he is also a follower of the new sect,
but does not wish to see her killed.

When the paralysis wears off, she sets out to
find Tsinga. Mondra Diamond, nevertheless, stands before the worst discovery.
When she locates the her friend, Bre Tsinga, she notices the inexplicable
behaviour of her friend, Mondra Diamond pursues the Cosmopsychologist to a
secret meeting. Stunned Mondra Diamond realises that she has arrived at a
meeting of the Gon-Orbhon followers. Bré Tsinga steps before the members and
speaks in the name of the new God. The Cosmopsychologist has obviously become a
follower and preacher of the new sect! Mondra has arrived just in time to save
her friend before she turns into a fanatic. However, at that moment, Theorod
Eysbira, a desperate man arrives who's daughter, a Gon-Orbhon youngster,
committed a suicide attack and now he wants to take revenge for it. He is armed
to the teeth and in order to prevent a bloodbath, Mondra, secures the man in
the safety of her protection field .

After their efforts to ensure food and energy
to the population Julian Tifflor and Homer G. Adams succeed in opening a
Transmitter channel which manages, with a huge energy expenditure supplied by
gigantic coalescence piles, to pass a restricted transport through the
hyperspace to the Moon. Indeed, over and over again there are lost
transmissions (about 1 in every 2500) and a personal transport is not to be
considered. However, at least, freight over restricted distances can be moved
again. A small success only, however, in times like this, a positive signal for
all Terrans.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

On Terra the mutilated emergency call of a
research corvette arrives, which operates in the whistle nebula. This had been
sent when violent space quakes had been measured like those observed when the
Star Ocean of Jamondi had materialised in the Hayok Sector. It prompted supposition
that there may also be foreign suns materialising elsewhere. The corvette
announces a fickle increase of number and fierceness of the quakes, then the
contact breaks off finally. This disconcerting news from the only 500 light
years distant whistle nebula reaches Julian Tifflor. The strongest space quakes
are measured and it feared that in immediate proximity of the Sol system a
similar phenomenon manifests itself, like the star ocean of Jamondi in the Hayok sector. The residence minister does not wish any risks in the immediate
proximity of the Sol system gives the immediate order to make two ships of the
new Discoverer class ready to be launched.

On the lunar shipyards, the ships of the LFT
are reequipped just under high pressure to positronic components. One of the
ships is the RICHARD BURTON, A DISCOVERER of the recent type which fascinates
with its persistent, redundant technology and modular construction. Lester
Truyen who makes his service during the adaptations of the RICHARD BURTON
aboard the 1,800 meter spacer considers the step back to antiquated
technologies more eerie. The much loved and compact hypertechnology may be
highly developed but is, after the change the hyperresistance at best like
expensive scrap metal. In the ship huge aggregate blocks dominate again to
energy production and storage. The worthless Hypertrop taps were removed
entirely and the proven, but outdated, black shield reactors took their place.
Thanks to the modular construction methods the rearrangement can be unwound quickly
and without great problems. The ships are also reequipped the new
Hawk-compensation converters which still need to be tested. Another new
construction is a detection device which covers the ultrahigh frequency ranges
of the hyperenergetic spectrum. Becauses of its form, it is called an
"ultra-giraffe". As a balance for the Syntrons substituted with
positronics, all Saturn ships are fitted out with SERT control. Truyen's
thoughts are all the time about with his wife who is about to give birth to
their baby daughter. The engineer can barely wait to stand by his wife at the
birth. However, the operation order of Julian Tifflor scuttles the plans of the
engineer. Lester Truyen must submit like all other crew members to the special
orders and accompany the flight of the RICHARD BURTON. In a hurry, the RICHARD
BURTON and her sister ship GEORGE EVEREST is prepared for the start of the
venture.

The 500 light years distance to the whistle
nebula, was not considered at first by anybody aboard both DISCOVERERS as
disconcerting. However, already shortly after the start it becomes clear to the
crews, how much the spatial conditions have changed. The ships encounter a kind
of bow wave which inhibits their forward velocity considerably. In comparison
with flights with the metagrav-drive both DISCOVERERS move very slowly forward.
Besides, the ships have to fight with the most different, technical
difficulties which thus nobody has foreseen. So only relatively short stages -
about 50 light years - and relatively low hyper-light speeds can be evidently
reached in linear flight. The flight develops into a difficult enterprise and
the crew has to fight with different and unusual effects. Exchange shock,
failures and destruction of hypercrystals, low velocities and up to now unknown
effects of the semi-space, probably released by the change the hyperresistance,
make the flight a Hell ride.

When the terran ships fall back once more into
normal space, both DISCOVERERS catch a weak emergency call. Julian Tifflor
gives the instruction to follow the radio signal and the Terrans discover a
small ship wrapped in a camouflage fields, without any identifying symbols. The
terran boarding commando finds aboard Arkonide who have evidently passed into a
deep coma. Apparently the ship was on a spying mission and was on the way to
the LFT when it was surprised by the change in the hyperresistance. Julian
Tifflor orders the arkonide spy spacer to be brought aboard and to continue the
flight.

Finally, when both DISCOVERERS finish the last
stage and reach the target area, they meet a small alliance of the LFT which
was already ordered before in this area to make investigations. The RICHARD
BURTON immediately gathers all the accumulated data. The target sector of the
whistle head nebula is very much a starless region. Only one small star
cluster, consisting of 23 single suns, is to be found in this space sector. The
star cluster, in the Solar-Fleet-Star-Catalogue carries the name SXG-1317, show
many parallels to the Hayok star archipelago. Julian Tifflor fears that the
strong hyperstorms also point in this sector to the materialisation of a star
cluster.

Then, after other violent space quakes, the
supposition becomes a certainty. Almost unnoticed and without crossing the
numerous suns materialize in the target area, many probably with planets. The
Terrans observe how virtually from the nothing a star pile with a diameter of
about 65 light years manifests itself. About 120,000 solar masses encloses the
thing which is visible like the star ocean of Jamondi for the time being only
on the hyperlocators. The suns of the star cluster do not seem to have fallen
back yet entirely into normal space, an effect which is already known to the
Terrans. Julian Tifflor starts his small fleet and gives to instruction to
explore the star cluster carefully. For the time being the residence minister
only wants to compile data. Should the terran ships encounter a space-going
people, they are to avoid contact. Shortly after, the two DISCOVERERS fly into
the unknown star cluster, which Jullian Tifflor christens with the name
Kettledrum cloud.

After several trip and measurements Julian
Tifflor decides to return to the Sol system with both DISCOVERERS. The
stationed units can do the further work. However, also the return flight turns
out to be dangerous. An immense hyperstorm which yields the dreaded Tryortan
throats over and over again almost becomes the RICHARD BURTON's undoing and has
obviously settled in the Antares sector. Julian Tifflor calls the dangerous
area a reef which will endanger and hinder space travel for a long time to
come. A hyperstorm-reef!

When the RICHARD BURTON and the GEORGE EVEREST
again reach the Sol system, the scientists register a strong change from Sol
aboard both ships. The sun shines suddenly in the high frequency hyperspectrum,
and has become a kind of hyperbeacon! Julian Tifflor makes immediate contact
with Myles Kantor who also cannot explain the phenomenon. The only tip is a
purely mathematically proved, 6-dimensional radiation component which Julian
Tifflor reminds immediately of the 6D jewel standing in connection with IT.
Myles Kantor is aware of the cross-connection with this mysterious thing which
the Terrans do not rule out a possible link.

Back on the Earth Julian Tifflor meets Mondra
Diamond. The residence minister had hoped that SOL had returned meanwhile from
her expedition to Hangay. However, up to now there was no news of the dumbbell
spacer and its crew. Immense innovations and investments will be asked to
manage again a fairly reasonable of space travel. An immense challenge which
will demand something of the Terrans. Additionally, changes in their own sun,
the formation of a hazard zone and a new star cluster appearing on the door
step make these difficult times.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Alexander Skargue is a biologist and lives in
the icy region of former Norway. He is a drunkard and lives like a hermit in a
residential cell, far away from modern civilization which he abhors. He devotes
himself to self produced schnapps and a rehabilitation project for elks. His
only companion is an old half blind Husky. When the Terran is out one day with
his Husky on the trail of an elk whom he believes to be pregnant, he comes to
an unexpected meeting. The biologist discovers and pursues an unknown track
which does not look at all like the track of an elk. Rather, the Terran
supposes it is that of an extraterrestrial living being. Shortly after the
Terran find a being who has worn himself out in the blizzard and grasps with
the last of his strength to a protecting tree stump.

The stranger is very small and is built
slenderly, only about 1.10 meters, however looks absolutely humanoid. The skin
is ochre-colored and is scaled. Feet and hands carry five digits and a toe
points to the back. The dull hair of the being is green and straw like, also
there are the straggly beginnings of a beard on the chin. Its narrow face carry
a very small nose and the mouth is without lips. Alexander Skargue knows
exactly that the stranger cannot survive in this ice wilderness without clothes
for long not long and takes him into his dwelling. Once there, the alien being
recovers fast and awakes from unconsciousness. Communication turns out to be
difficult. The unknown visitor can understand no Interkosmo and looks strongly
disorientated. After some attempts at communication Alexander Skargue believes
to have found out the Alien's name, Orren Snaussenid. Another concept,
Alexander Skargue interprets is the name of the people to whom the stranger
belongs, the Schohaake.

After a short stay in his residential cell,
Alexander Skargue, his Husky and the stranger set off for the next settlement.
All attempts to activate the syntronic pilot of the biologist's Glider, fail;
and thus only the march on foot remains. Because Skargue lives in seclusion he
knew nothing about the problems with the hyperresistance. To march through the
icy cold, turns out a risqué enterprise, however, in the end, after a lot of
efforts the strange three reach the next, bigger town, of Otta. On the way he
has to battle with alcohol withdrawal symptoms as well as with poachers and is
saved finally by the pilot of antigrav gliders by chance passing by.

In Otta, Alexander Skargue and the Schohaake
are taken into a Medostation, because the wandering through the ice scenery has
strongly drained the physical powers of the Terran. Besides, Alexander Skargue
who enjoys his alchol receives treatment against his very damaged heavy
drinker's liver. Orren Snaussenid remains for the doctors, nevertheless, a
riddle. Indeed they are unable to treat it at the Medostation of Otta. However,
no information about the people of the Schohaaken is found. Thus the origin of
the Alien remains a riddle. At least the doctors manage to stabilize the small
guest and to nourish him artificially.

When Alexander Skargue awakes after his
operation, he owns a new liver and kidneys and the second chance to gain
control of his life. In addition, the biologist has a visit. A young woman
introduces herself to him and is interested especially in the unknown visitor.
She is Mondra Diamond! With her charm she persuades him to accompany her to
Terrania with the Schohaake as he has established a rapport with him. Mondra
Diamond brings Alexander Skargue and Orren Snaussenid to Terrania. In Terrania
Skargue overcomes at first his fear of people and then his alcohol illness,
because he joins to a group of people who convert a hover bus to positronic
components. The physical work, more still the social contacts, are good for him.

However, even in the circle of the specialists
they are helpless with regard to the Alien's origins. On all their expeditions
within and beyond the Milky Way, the Terrans have never met Schohaaken.
Accordingly the question remains unanswered as to how the stranger has come to
the earth. Because Orren Snaussenid barely articulates more than his name, all
communication attempts also remain fruitless. Then the unexpected happens. At
several places on the earth strangers from Snaussenids people appear suddenly.
In some cases cameras are even able to document the materialisation of the
aliens. All Schohaaken seem to be with the same disorientation. They do not
speak, seem naked and are brought one by one to Terrania. Only when they are
brought together with another Schohaaken, there seems to be a breakthrough.
Both beings recognize that they belong to the same people and start to speak
suddenly. Soon with the help of the translators the Terrans are able to gain
the rudiments of communication with the beings. However, despite this success
they do not make much headway. The Schohaaken do not seem to know where they
are come from and which force it has moved them to the Earth, or why.

To get to know more about the origin of the
beings, they show the Schohaaken pictures of all known people and galaxies from
which the Terran have knowledge. For hours no success appears, however, then
movement comes suddenly to the Schohaaken and it brings great excitement. The
Schohaaken point at the picture of the centaur-like Algorrians and swear that
they know these people.

Mondra Diamond and Julian Tifflor are
surprised, as these creature date back over 20 million years! Unfortunately,
the time lovers have moved back to a secret planet to devote themselves the
re-creation of their people and therefore, cannot be consulted. Then a total of
3504 Schohaaken appear on Terra, many of them are no longer alive. Even on Mars
the appearance is announced to of aliens. In the operations staff the LFT they
are helpless. While Mondra Diamond takes further care of the Schohaaken,
Skargue returns to his hut and to his elks - but not to the alcohol. He is
firmly decided to stay dry.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Ore is an island in the middle of the ocean on
the planet Ash Irthumo which lies 0.6 light years from Baikhal Cain. The island
is threatened regularly by the "Tau Carama" which is a gigantic tidal
wave which is caused by volcanic activity. She always demands victims of the
Motana living on Ore, birth place to Intake. It turns out that in her
childhood, Intake is an Irthumo eavesdropper, i.e., she has the ability to feel
the Tau Carama and to warn her people. When the local majesty dies, Intake is
appointed as her successor. For the Motana a period of growth begins, because
the population is not reduced any longer by the tidal wave.

When Intakes life approaches the end, for the
first time in in many years aliens appear on Ore. They are Perry Rhodan, Atlan,
Zephyda and Rorkhete. These were teleported together with the oceanic oracle
from Baikhal Cain to Ash Irthumo in the middle of a storm. The oceanic oracles
become lost, although as these are semi-aquatic beings they are unlikely to
have experienced any problems. Atlan manages to save the seriously injured,
Zephyda from the roaring waves. He reaches shore of Ore where he finds a bow
similar to that used by the Motana in the Forest of Pardahn. Thus he strikes up
the Choral of the Patron to announce himself to any Motana living there. He
does not have to wait long and the welcoming group of Motana bring Zephyda to
the a healer who is able to cure the heavy internal injuries caused from the
battle on Baikhal Cain, nevertheless, Zephyda must allow at least two weeks to
be recuperated from the heavy injuries. The Motana of the island Ore live on a high situated cliff plateau and renounce all technology, to avoid the
attention of the Kybb-Cranar which have a base on a nearby continent.

Perry Rhodan and Rorkhete escape, but get
separated during the storm. Rhodan watches helplessly as Rorkhete and the
oceanic oracles sink into the depths of the sea, however independently of each
other, both manage to get to the beach of Ore. Staggeringly it transpires that
Rorkhete simply walked along the sea bed, but could not have lasted longer as
his emergency air supplies would have run out. Finally after a day-long search,
they are found by Atlan and the Motana. Then in the Motana settlement it turns
out that also on this planet the Motana live without any technological means to
strike against he Kybb-Cranar. The local Majesty offers the Aliens,
nevertheless, to build a ship. A plan which on account of the tense position in
the Milky Way, is immediately is taken up. While TERRA INCOGNITA is built, the
local majesty shows to the immortals a cave which contains all technology which
the Montana had, and could not use on account of the menace by the Kybb-Cranar.
She offers unlimited use of the engineering devices to Perry and Atlan. These
accept the help with thanks.

During the immortal's stay on Ore, the dreaded
Tau Carama comes to the Montana. With this tidal wave, Rorkhete turns out to be
a true hero, as he saves two fishermen unselfishly before the forces of nature.
A fact which causes Perry Rhodan to bring huge sympathies to the nomad. In the
meantime, he is more talkative than still on Baikhal Cain, however, about his
intentions and purposes he still announces nothing. Nevertheless he supports Rhodan
and Atlan. Atlan makes an astounding discovery, also. With a walk with Zephyda,
shortly before the arrival the Tau Carama he is able to ascertain that his
great love is likewise an Irthumo eavesdropper, although she does not come from
Ash-Irthumo. This discovery has to the result that Intake offers Zephyda less
than 4 eyes to take over her post. This offer leads with Atlan, who eavesdrops
on the private conversation of both Motana, and Zephyda to a domestic internal
conflict. Atlan must decide whether to allow his love to follow him on his
dangerous journey or leave Zephyda here in the safety of the other Motana. She
on the other hand is torn whether to stay and help the Motana by predicting the
Tau Carama, or take revenge on the Kybb-Cranar for the destruction of her
village and the death of her sister. The pair bicker endlessly while the TERRA
INCOGNITA is being built. Meanwhile, Rhodan makes a strange observation. He
sees Rorkhete set up an antenna of sorts, and measures something. He has
technological devices which function seemingly in spite of the raised
hyperresistance.

Because their settlement lies high, but indeed
not high enough, the Motana must tie themselves to on stable trees to overcome
the flood. All Motana follow the warnings of the immortal, except Intake who
denies the existence of a tidal wave because she feels none. It occurs to Atlan
that Intake is prepared to die to force the choice from Zephyda, and to press
her into office of the local majesty. He therefore tries to persuade Intake of
the danger which he manages to do finally.

The Motana survive the tidal wave, and in the
next day the TERRA INCOGNITA takes to sea. Aboard: Perry, Atlan, Rorkhete and
Zephyda who has decided to take revenge on the Kybb-Cranar. She has interpreted
the crashed ship as a sign of weakness in her oppressors. Intake allows them to
set off without problem , because she has seen in a vision, how Zephyda
sacrifices herself to ensure the finish of the Kybb-Cranar's rule. Only her and
Zephyda know about this dream.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

With their self made ship, TERRA INCOGNITA
Perry, Atlan and their companions reach the mainland, more exactly the
continent of Curhafe. During the navigation, Rorkhete tells Zephyda of the past
of her people. The young Motana finds out that her people once controlled the
star ocean and even controlled space travel. Furthermore, the spaceships were
steered not by technology, but by the songs of the Motana! A revelation which
throws a quite a new light on the Motana. The whole people appear to own PSI
abilities. Already from the high sea they can recognize on Crythumo, the base
of the Kybb-Cranar.

Arriving on the mainland, the companions set
out to search for a settlement of Motana. In passing, they observe how a group
of Motana pursue a young female Motana. Zephyda wants to intervene, however,
she is prevented from it by Rorkhete. During the wandering through the wood,
Rorkhete reveals some more morsels from the past of the Star Ocean and of the Motana. Before the " Blood night of Barinx " the Motana were
according to figures strongest people in the star ocean. They were loyal
fighters for the patron. At that time space travel was possible only by the
mental forces of the Motana; with the help of her Chorals and with a special catalyst
they were able to fly the " bionic cruisers ". After the blood night
the Motana were suppressed brutally by the new rulers, billions were killed and
the Chorals were forbidden. The paranormal space travel was substituted by the
Kybb-Robes (the engineers of Jamondi) by engineering space travel. However,
there are still Motana women who are especially gifted individuals, called
Epha-Motana, they were the helmsmen of the bionic cruisers. Rorkhete clarifies
that Zephyda could own the potential of an Epha-Motana. Rorkhete himself,
together with the oceanic oracles had alreasy, for a fairly long time searched
for medial sentries and for the planet Plotter, the origin world of the
Shozides - his lost home world. Rorkhete believes to have measured the typical
radiation of the planet in the Ash system.

Finally, after a long wandering the group
reaches a railway station where, at the same time they meet the huntresses and
their prisoner. During the train journey they learn that they are mistrusted,
and even Zephyda is considered strange. They arrive at Biliend, the largest
town of the continent, and the travellers try to make contact with the local
majesty, which they manage in spite of the mistrust placed on them. The local
Majesty, previously one of the huntresses, seems to recognize in Zephyda a very
powerful dormant strength which she makes her accept the aliens as friends.
Also Anthloza tells Zephyda, that she, like Intake (local majesty, the island Ore) had a dream in which she saw Zephyda as an space traveller and saviour of the Motana.

Now the Galaxians also learn why the huntresses
were capturing their own kind. The Motana living here which are suppressed by
the Kybb-Cranar in a very different way than the people on Baikhal Cain.
Annually 8,000 pregnant women are made "to deliver their foetuses. The
unborns are taken from the women in an awful and degrading procedure, and
nobody knows what the Kybb-Cranar then do with the foetuses. Both immortal
decide, to explore Crythumo, and consider, on account of the difficult
conditions which have emerged for the Kybb-Cranar on account of the raised
hyperresistance, to even attack them on Crythumo. The next day Zephyda receives
an invitation from Anthloza for a tour which ends with the grouping of the
Femesingers. These are some gifted Motana which are allowed to sing the
prohibited songs. The leader Garombe, her sister Anthlozas, takes up Zephyda as
if submitting her to a test. She becomes the catalyst and focus of the PSI
energy which is released by the songs. Therefore, quite quickly she is
recognized by the Motana as a leader.

Next morning, Garombe trusts to Zephyda that
she also had the same dream like Intake and Anthloza. Zephyda is taken up into
the circle of the Femesingers and ascertains that the songs the Motana hold an
astounding strength. Among other things they can lift stones into the air. In
addition, it becomes clear that Zephyda has a special talent, although she
might not admit it. Now Zephyda learns to attain control over the songs and
climbs up to the leading voice of the Femesingers. Meanwhile Perry, Atlan and
Rorkhete push forward into Crythumo and try to seek information there. They
find out that in the crash of the only ship which caused the Tau Carama on Ore, the majority of the Kybb-Cranar had cost the life, and now only 30 Kybb-Cranar were
left in the Crythumo. In addition, their supposition is confirmed that the
members of the occupying forces are having to fight with serious technical
difficulties. With the attempt to eavesdrop on a conference of the Kybb-Cranar,
Perry and Atlan are detained. Rorkhete returns to Biliend and informs the
Motana. Under the leadership of Zephyda whom Garombe as well as Anthloza
recognize her higher sovereignty, the Motana with the help of the Femesingers
decide to storm the Crythumo.

With the enormous achievement of the
Femesingers, in particular Zephyda, the victory succeeds, while the singers
strike a Choral which provides disorientation with the Kybb-Cranar, making them
unable to defend themselves. With bow and arrow the Motana women conquer the
whole base and release Rhodan and Atlan just still in time, before the
interrogation techniques of the Kybb-Cranar become deadly for them. The
Crythumo falls into the hands the Motana and Perry and Atlan are released. Now
the immortal and Rorkhete with the help of the Motana Femesingers try to fly a
sloop. Zephyda and the Femesingers try to bring the 40 meter cube ship under
her spiritual control - as for this there is also a special Choral. Actually
they raise the sloop into the air, but then there is a crash landing with which
the ship is damaged irreparably. However, nobody is injured, but Zephyda is
depressed: obviously she must still practice more and develop her skills. .
Perry and Atlan are stuck on Ash-Irthumo, and must put their hope to these
plans again to abandonment on the oceanic oracles. Nevertheless, the Motana are
sure that Zephyda will revive the old forces and lead her people into freedom.
The Planetary majesty explains that Zephyda is a higher authority, a Stellar
majesty.

Note: I found the summaries for 2208-2218 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

In the star ocean, space travel has ground to a
halt on account of the raised hyperresistance. Raphid-Kybb-Karter, the
Governor of Baikhal Cain must let his fleet make a forced landing on the planet
because they cannot keep in orbit due to engineering difficulties.
Raphid-Kybb-Karter quickly recognizes the seriousness of the situation. He gets
Motana from the holy mountain and tests them in order to recognize which are
suitable among them as Epha-Motana, thus Motana especially well suited for
space travel.

The thousand of the best ones are selected and
put into a training camp. Among them is Aicha. The young Motana was just
appointed by her dying predecessor as the leader of the holy mountain Motana when
she received the order to lead all Motana from the holy mountain to the
"pattern". She considers the promises of freedom from Kybb-Karter
sceptically and supposes an intrigue. Before the best thousand arrive at the
training camp, they are separated from the remaining Motana. Aicha is be
separated from her twin brother, Gorlin. However, both are connected by an
invisible link which extends from a normal relationship, and she refuses to go
without Gorlin. The Kybb-Cranar let Gorlin go along, because Aicha, according
to the tests, is an exceedingly gifted Epha-Motana, and they do not wish to
risk losing this potential.

In the training camp the conditions for the
Motana are better than in the holy mountain. They are well supplied and the
sick people, among them also Gorlin who was wounded with an accident in the
holy mountain are maintained healthy. However, the idyllic lifestyle quickly
shows her shadow side. The Motana are forced to wear Krin-Varidh [1] and they
must be trained within the shortest time as astronauts. They must produce high
achievements. To maintain the achievement readiness, Raphid-Kybb-Karter, at
regular intervals executes the weakest 10%. Under this pressure hostilities
come into being. Aicha must fight with a rival, Careve for the position as best
Motana, but Careve sees in Aicha no fellow sufferer, but only a competitor.

The hard selection of the Motana creates a
nervous situation, some gifted Epha-Motana prefer even suicide to a life in the
service of the Kybb-Cranar. During the hard training program the Epha-Motana
learn to control more and more their abilities, and finally they can control
even the Epha-Matrix with which they can steer spaceships in hyperspace. At the
end of the hard competition two groups are left. The group of Aicha and those
of Careve. Both groups must try first of all, to fly a small cruiser and train
finally through to bigger ships. It turns out that Aicha's is a group is the
stronger one.

A flight with the specially altered scout
cruiser, Shalavdra shows the first great task to which both groups must
position themselves. This they should fly in the neighbouring system Ash to the
planet Ash-Irthumo. Aicha's group takes over the flight, Careve's is held back
as an emergency reserve. The flight succeeds. However, on Ash-Irthumo the
Kybb-Cranar expect to meet a delegation of own people, but instead a group of
Motana which, through the disorientating effect of the Chorals, succeed in
taking the Shalavdra.

During the fight between the Motana and
Kybb-Cranar, Careve tries to kill Raphid-Kybb-Karter. An attempt which she pays
for with her life. Aicha succeeds in it, thanks to the rage of Kybb-Karter he
gives her strength to complete Careve's work. Thanks to a Choral, she succeeds
in unfolding her tele-kinetic abilities and to shoot Kybb-Karter with his own
"emitter arm". After the victory of the Motana over the Kybb-Cranar,
there is a reunion with Atlan and Perry whom Aicha knows previously from the
Holy mountain. Atlan appears surprised about how quickly the Motana have learned
to fly ships. Only one determining question remains: If, after the death of the
governor, whether the Krin-Varidh(1) can be reset to zero, or will
kill they kill the Motana.

(1) Krin-Varidh is a neck ring on the
Motana in the holy mountain. If an integrated counter is not put on zero, it
injects its bearer with a deadly poison.

Note: I found the summaries for 2243-2245 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Rhodan goes off on his own to find the Medial
Sentry in the ice lands of Keyzing. In the
end, after some dreams and sleepwalking, he finds the Medial Sentry for real
and gets her to a bionic cruiser, but she's in a coma till the very end of the
issue.

In the dreams, he converses with the Sentry, a
blue skinned female, who speaks in the language of the Mighty. She grills him
on his overall intentions. Rhodan portrays himelf as a third-party. He's not
for the Cosmocrats or Chaotarcs; he's akin to the Knights of the Depth. She
seems to accept this as agreeable to her. The Motana are evacuating the planet
as best they can with the sixty-one bionic cruisers in their possession, but
they know it won't be enough. It would have been interesting to see more
decision making on who got on board, but instead they do "first come,
first served". I don't give much chance to those left behind because….

The Kybb will get no more foam opal from the Holy Mountain. Before leaving, Zephayda has the Holy Mountain blown up. This is the one
real sore point I have with the story, because no mention is made of the
mutated Motanas that Perry and Atlan discovered living in the mountain. I find
it hard to believe that the two Galactics would not have spoken up about them.
I can only hope that the "mountain ghosts" survived.

Once leaving the planet, the bionic cruisers
have to deal with the Kybb fleet that Iant Letoxx has brought to the Cain
system, and it is a disaster for the Motanas. They lose a good third of their
ships to the psi-waves from the Kyber-Neutros that Letoxx brought along.

Note: I found the summaries for 2243-2245 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

In Terrania City, a couple in the Gon-Orbhon
sect are killed by a mysterious individual for datafiles they possess.
Meanwhile, Chip Greuther, Bernie Schneider, Maggie Sweeken, three Terran League
Service agents are ordered to sit in a spaceship orbiting Earth and wait to be
called for a mission. Maggie only recently joined Chip and Bernie after their
old partner, the wondrous Tamara Örtiz, was transferred to other duties. Each
of them is dealing with a tortured conscience for various reasons. Chip still
mourns for his murdered wife, and feels guilty for almost killing the accused
man, who turned out to be innocent. Maggie can't stand it that such a hateful
religion is spreading over the Earth. And Bernie is a former theologian who
couldn't take the hypocrisy of religions that say they are for the people, but
ended up crucifying and stealing from them. While waiting for orders, they
gossip about the events on Earth and a classified project being built around
the moon called Operation Crystal Storm.

After a few days, Noviel Residor, the head of
the TLS assigns them the mission of protecting the Gon-Orbhon sect from a new
organization called Terrania's Citizen Guard. The mysterious Marshal Tellon,
who hides himself behind a dark distortion field and his right hand man
Terrence, leads it. The organization calls for active resistance against the
sect by the citizenship because the law ties the government's hands.

Although the team sympathizes with the group,
they reluctantly admit that the law is the law. Noviel Residor informs Chip, as
head of the team, about the fact that Gon-Orbhon appears to be a
superintelligence feeding off of the remains of another superintelligence's
corpse within the Solar System's sun and that the sect members are being
somehow influenced by Gon-Orbhon, so that they cannot be held responsible for
what they do. The situation gets more and more violent. Through their
investigations, the team discovers that the leader of the Terrania's Citizen
Guard is none other than Chip and Bernie's old teammate Tamara, who had decided
on a course of vigilante justice. Although she managed to kill all of Carlosch Imberlock's
Adjuncts in a bombing, he managed to survive uninjured and vows to quickly
replace the Adjuncts. With Tamamra captured, the Citizen Guard is now without a
leader, but it has not disbanded. Only time will tell what happens next.

Note: I found the summaries for 2243-2245 on
the internet – not sure who, when or where. Someone spent some time on these
and I hate to see them lost to the void.

Malcolm S. Daellian, the scientist critically
injured in issue 2220 is now a lump of flesh in a floating tank that keeps him
alive and active. To help him come to terms with it, Myles Kantor and Homer G.
Adams have managed to talk him into heading Project RAINBOW, a new sun tapping
ship that will provide the planets and ships with energy, so they are not so
reliant on hypercrystals.

Meanwhile, rumors have started going around
about Operation Crystal Storm, a massive project being prepared in moon orbit
with massive security. The rumors say that the LFT is preparing to take control
of all the hypercrystal mines they can get their hands on. As Daellian takes
the first tap ship, RAINBOW I, to the sun in order to test it, he discovers a
disciple of Gor-Orbohn on board, trying to blow them all to pieces. Daellian
kills the man in battle as the ship begins to fail anyway and the crew barely
escapes before the ship blows up from overstrained batteries.

While the RAINBOW II is being assembled, Myles
Kantor informs Daellian that the rumors about Operation Crystal Storm are
actually a façade for something even bigger. In the Hayok Star Archipelago,
Reginald Bull and a team are preparing a mission to the Greater Magellanic
Cloud in order to investigate Gor-Orbohn, who seems to reside there. The ships
and material for the mission are being assembled in Terran moon orbit and will
soon be leaving for Hayok as its first stop. They want Daellian to serve as
chief scientist on the mission.

Daellian battles with the decision of whether
to accept it or not, but knowing that he will finish Project RAINBOW in a short
time, he finally agrees. The RAINBOW II is completed and makes a successful
test flight, delivering a full load of energy to Terra. Before leaving Terra
for Operation Crystal Storm, Daellian is sent to pick up a special passenger to
take along, Bre Tsinga, the Cosmopsychologist, turned Gor-Orbohn disciple! It
is hoped that her condition may give some hints on how to proceed when they
arrive at the Greater Magellanic Cloud.

We begin with a gaming scenario filled with caricatures of the famous and well known of the current times,where players hook into the Hayok network with SERT style equipment, so that they actually become their characters within the virtual space. But players have recently been vanishing, with no sign of where they have gone. All that is known is that one by one, they have been playing against a new opponent.

Meanwhile, the LFT ships that had left for Hayok arrive. It is July 13, 1332 NGE. Reginald Bull, Julian Tifflor and Gucky receive the convoy's head, Admiral Gerger Akwuegbu. She still does not know why she brought the convoy there, and is told that she will have to wait a while longer to find out what Operation Crystal Storm is actually about.

Bull orders MjÃƒÂ¶lnir to be carried out. MjÃƒÂ¶lnir was the hammer of the Norse god Thor, and this is the exact shape that PRAETORIA reconfigures into and the newly arrived ships dock with. Down on Hayok, the Celistas and Stentral (nicknamed Sten) and Oltran (nicknamed Ollie)!, last seen in issue 2232, where the Laurel and Hardy of the Celistas helped break Shallowain the Hound out of the LFT prison, are now working for Kavuron da Untrach, who rebuilt and controls the Arkonide computer nets on Hayok.

They are sent by Kavuron into Fragment Country, a segment of the city where the shady side of Positronic selling is pursued, and where youthful hackers live. It turns out that they are his cleanup squad, sanitizing the scene after Kavuron kills the net players that play against him in his virtual world.

On July 23, 1332 NGE, Bull hands control of the Hayok sector forces to Tifflor, so he can deal with Operation Crystal Storm. Tifflor soon receives a visit from Ascari da Vivo and must call Bully back. It turns out that Imperator Bostich has been taken in by the rumors of Crystal Storm and has told da Vivo to present the LFT with an ultimatum. Either stop the construction involved with the plan to take over the hypercrystal beds of the Eastside, or he will have the Mascants restart the war and attack.

Meanwhile, Kavuron plays Garrabo, an Arkonide analog of chess with Hipet Eress, the surgeon who had repaired Ascari da Vivo's features after Kantarin's attack. During the session, Kavuron reveals that he is 260 years old, and doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon. He is insulted by the up and coming Positronic experts and hackers. He was the one who had rebuilt the Postronic net and feels himself a god. "And God does not die". The man is clearly a deadly egomaniac. Up in orbit, Bell and Tifflor need to know if Ascari was bluffing about the ultimatum or not, but cannot figure out how to do so. They cannot hack into her data memories to check the message and the mutants can't sneak inside the Tato Palace either.

Gucky, on the other hand, has a card up his sleeve. He contacts Specter, the reincarnated personality of Maykie Molina, the TLS Specialist who had managed to transfer her personality into the KHASURN computer network before death. He convinces Specter to penetrate the Arkonide networks and retrieve Bostich's message. Specter agrees with the condition that Gucky keeps a line open between the two systems, because without its "soul anchor", Specter would soon die for real.

When Specter enters the Arkonide network, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins between Kavuron and Specter. It turns out that Molina's abusive ex-husband had later worked for Kavuron. Eventually, Kavuron appropriated all of his ideas and probably killed him. Eventually, Kavuron realizes who Specter is and traps the personality in the net after it manages to get Bostich's message and send it outside. Kavuron intends to dissect Specter in order to learn the secret of eternal life.

Gucky realizes that Specter is trapped, after Bostich's message shows up in the Hayok traffic light system and the interface between the two systems is cut. He has the part of PRAETORIA'S computer system containing the "soul anchor", the remainders of Specter's brain matter, transferred to the RICHARD BURTON, where Ascari is waiting for Bulls answer to the ultimatum.

It turns out that Bostich was serious about the ultimatum, so Bull and Tifflor are forced to lay out the whole truth about Operation Crystal Storm. It is an expedition to the Greater Magellanic Cloud to confront Gor-Orbohn. Ascari believes them and agrees to hold off any attack Ã‚Â… for now. At that moment Gucky appears and tricks Ascari into opening a dedicated radio line between the Arkonide net and the RICHARD BURTON, using the pretense of getting data on Gor-Orbhon to Mascan Khrashyn, before he started the war early, as the means.

Then Gucky transports down to Hayok and locates a moving PEIPER (anti-mutant radiation) source. He cannot think of a reason someone might want protection from a mutant at the moment. It is the only possible lead he might have to get a lead on Specter. He commandeers a hover board from a playground because he knows the PEIPER will stop him from using his powers if he gets too close, and uses it to then do exactly that. He feigns an accident and lets the PEIPER owners catch him. As luck would have it, the owner is Stentral!

He and Oltran take the captured Gucky to Kavuron, figuring on getting a big reward for catching Terra's greatest mutant. When they arrive, Gucky takes control and threatening to release Plofre, his dark side, gets the information to free Specter, so it can use the now open radio line to return to the RICHARD BURTON.

Afterwards, Gucky ties up the villains and drops them off with the friends of the murdered players. They promise to not just kill the three, but send them into the net and give them a chance to survive against the players. Later, Gucky goes to bed wondering if he had done the right thing, or if he had lowered himself to his enemies level and is now no better than them.

Ascari da Vivo receives a radio message from Imperator Bostich with which the Terrans are given a free hand in their departure preparations. The Mascant places only one condition to Bull: an Arkonide observer must join in the flight into the Greater Magellanic Cloud. Bull sends half of the PONTOON-Tenders ahead. They are to form a chain of space depot and repair stations in the 40,000 light years wide empty space between galaxies.

The RICHARD BURTON will be the first ship to attempt the complete journey into the Greater Magellanic Cloud, for there is not enough time remaining to convert the other DISCOVERERS completely yet. The spherical hull of the ship now "sticks" to a cube open at two sides with 3 kilometers of side length, whose walls are four hundred meters thick. This cube harbors additional Hawk-converters and can be ejected when done with. Together with the Hawks within thespherical ship, the converters will only be good for flight there and reconnaissance within the Greater Magellanic Cloud. If the bulk of the fleet should not make for some reason into the Greater Magellanic Cloud, the RICHARD BURTON will no longer have enough engine capacity to return to the Milky way Â…

While the Terrans continue busily tinkering with their ships, young Kantiran makes a sad example of himself in Vhalaum. He repeatedly gets drunk to the point of throwing up and passing out. Finally though, he finds some redemption with a girl, Scazada Toan, who falls in love with him, but toward whom he cannot generate deeper feelings, because he cannot forget Thereme (dead for a year now). He moves carefree around the city and even takes a job along with Mal Detair, although he very well knows that he continues to be sought by the Arkonides.

Scazada quickly begins to dream of a happy family life on Hayok, but nothing comes of it, for one day Gucky appears in Kantarin's in apartment in order to recruit him for the flight to the Greater Magellanic Cloud. Every available mutant is needed for the mission. Kantiran, of course, continues to be bull-headed and refuses. He continues to deny fate, when Bull comes personally a few days later to apologize for his actions with Shallowain and to try talking him into coming on the expedition. The starbastard rips into Bull for his behavior in the Shallowain affair, and moreover he still feels badly treated by his father Perry Rhodan. Still, it begins to become clear to Kantiran that a life shared with Sca is not in the stars for him, because the stars themselves call for him, especially because the woman is only a diversion for him, not true love. Finally, he decides to go on the expedition.

Meanwhile, Shallowain has been inciting young Arkonide gang members to physically attack non-Arkonides. Why, is never explained. Eventually, Shallowain tricks one to take the next step and bomb a bar that Kantiran and his friends frequent. (It is never indicated though, that Shallowain knows that Kantiran goes there). The bombing takes place on the night when Kantiran was going to break up with Ska in the bar. She is not hurt badly, but one of the fourteen victims dead is the bomber himself. It turns out that Shallowain tampered with the timing fuse so that it would explode immediately, wiping out the living connection to him.

After a rather perfunctory breakup scene between Kantiran and Ska, Kantiran and Mal Detair proceed onto the RICHARD BURTON. Kantiran is not at all delighted to see the Arkonide observers come aboard on the day of departure, May 8th 1332 NGE. They are the Zalite scientist Trerok, the Dron Qertan Â– and his mother Ascari da Vivo!

FreedomfightersAfter losing the battle against the Kybb, Zephyda sends out her remaining thirty-nine cruisers to gather all the reachable Planetary Majesties for a Convention of the Majesties. She herself remains with the SWORD on Tom Karthay. The Medial Sentry Lyressea awakens there on August 6, 1332 NGE. She is a positive moral being. With great sympathy for the Galacticans, Motanas and Rorkhete, she begins to tell them about the past.

Six Sentries Â– three male and three female humanoids Â– are created by ES (IT) seven million years ago on Wanderer ( Ambur, at that time) from the gene pool of the planet Talan (aka Terra) and Homunk, who comes from the same gene pool, prepares them over several centuries for their task to help the Order of the Protectors. The Protectors at that time were an organization like the Knights of the Depth. They had their seat of power in the Jamondi star cluster, on the planet Tan-Jamondi II, this was also the location of their cathedral, a building in form of an enormous cone, which was integrated with a gigantic tree and was known as the Rogan Cathedral.

According to legend the Order would be blessed, as long as the tree bloomed. A mysterious being by the name of Orrien Alar, which could melt with the tree, the Ancient Trummstam, guarded it. Up to now the Protectors had been able to receive their consecration only in the Rogan Cathedral because a mental entity had merged with the cathedral. The Protectors had eventually renounced working for the Cosmocrata. They no longer wanted to follow the rigid rules of the forces of Order, but live according to their own moral principles.

The Cosmocrats agreed to it, however, with the demand of removing the mental entity from the Rogan Cathedral, so that no more new Protectors could be consecrated.

To retain the Order from extinction, new Protectors came to be consecrated in the future by the Sentries. It would only work though, with the help of the Paragon Cross, a psionic field in which a fragment of the consciousness of ES was integrated. Only absolutely positive beings could be consecrated as Protectors, and the final decision stood with the Paragon Cross. As an other present, the Sentries received some thousand newborn children and ten thousand fetuses from Homunk of a race that carries the name Motana. ES created the Motana from the current gene pool of Talan, and projected the likely development of life on Talan Â– i.e. the Motana correspond to the intelligent form of life which would develop itself on Talan only after another seven million years: Humans.

A prosperous period begins for the Order of the Protectors. The Sentries look for and test particularly "suitable" beings of all possible races and begin to consecrate new Protectors. These Protectors maintain order and security in Ammandul (aka the Milky Way) in a peaceful manner, settling conflicts without using their superior military power. The strongest spaceships of the Protectors are the Transports: seven kilometers long, rust red cylindrical ships. However, the Shozides form the backbone of the fleet with their double ringed ships. As they grow up and develop over the millennia, the Motana spread out all over Jamondi and become an important helper race for the Protectors. Their main world is the planet Barinx.

The Protectors spread out their sphere of influence over several star clusters in Ammandul. One of them is Arphonie and it lies near Talan. Another such star cluster lies in Amringhar (aka the Greater Magellanic Cloud) and is called Parrakhon. One of the "newer" Protectors is Tagg Kharzani, a somber humanoid, tall and thin as a skeleton who always wears a wide brimmed hat that keeps his head covered in shadow. Another new Protector is Gon-Orbhon. Lyressea found him in a rescue capsule, which floated in the empty space between Amringhar and Ammandul. He cannot remember his past, but seems to be an artificially created being. With his ability to mentally control intelligent beings from a distance, he ends a terrible war between the Kybb races in Amringhar and Khyranghar ( aka the Smaller Magellanic Cloud).

On Gon-Orbhons persuading, a second Protector Cathedral is established in Amringhar with part of the Paragon Cross on the planet Parrakh in which consecrations can also take place. The pacified Kybb races are integrated into the organization of the Protectors. The Kybb establish a monstrous building in the Arphonie star cluster for Tagg Kharzani. It is the Kherzesch Castle Â…

One day the amphibian Carya Andaxi is consecrated a Protector. She had once been a representative of the Cosmocrats, but no longer works for the forces of Order. She is practically the embodiment of positive morality. She repeatedly speaks of a legendary place by the name of Ahandaba, which cannot be reached with the conventional means of space travel. She begins to promote the psionic potential slumbering in the Motana for psionic space travel. Tagg Kharzani develops an aversion towards Carya Andaxi and her stories of Ahandaba. It turns out that Kharzani suffers from Thanatophobia Â– he has a morbid fear of death. Carya Andaxi withdraws to the water world Gray Foam, which supposedly resembles her home planet and lies very close to Kherzesch Castle. From there she returns with a new type of ship developed by the Submarine Architects, developed specially for the Motanas. With these "bionic cruisers" the Motana begin to more and more replace the Shozides.

Along with the bionic cruisers, Carya brings the Schota Maghate, nicknamed the Oceanic Oracles, from Gray Foam Â– rumors say that the Oceanic Oracles are Carya Andaxi's children.

Hard times begin when the Sentries receive a summons from Homunk: the helper races of the negative superintelligence STROWWAN will soon attack Ammandul. STROWWAN is pursuing the goal of changing into a matter depression. The war soon begins and for the first time the Protectors must use deadly force. New Protectors are no longer consecrated, and Wanderer withdraws into hyperspace.

During this time, the Sentries receive their titles. Lyressea becomes the Medial Sentry, due to her mental sensitivity. Catiaane becomes the Brass Sentry for her propensity to continue trying to make peace. Metondre became the Lover Sentry, for his trying to find the good even in the worst enemies. Eithani was the Burning Sentry because he burned for justice and revenge for all those killed. Atjaa was the Steel Sentry for his indomitable will to survive. Hytath became the Bleeding Sentry for his willingness to accept sacrifice for the greater good, but feeling the sorrow for the necessity of it... After eight hundred and ninety-eight years of war, the decisive battle begins between STROWWAN'S horde and the combined fleets of all the races of the Milky Way under the leaderships of the Protectors ...

In the battle with STROWWAN'S fleet, which involves extremely heavy losses for both sides, the decision comes down in favor of the Protectors, due to the unexpectedly intervention of thousands of bionic cruisers and two Nocturnan obelisks that ES called for help from the galaxy Laxaron (aka Fornax), after some ships equipped with Paratechnology by STROWWAN had even succeeded tearing the artificial world Wanderer from its travels in hyperspace.<

The price of the victory is high though, as the armed forces of the Protectors come from the conflict heavily worn down. Indeed, the opposing units flee, but are still dangerous for the main worlds of the Protectors. Therefore, the strongly damaged Nocturnan obelisk Antallin teleports to Tan-Jamondi II, while the obelisk Satrugar proceeds to Parrakh. Antallin deviates from its course and falls on the planet Baikhal Cain, where it dies. It sinks into the planetary crust, and its substance foams and mixes with the planetary matter Â– whereby the Holy Mountain originates. A strong Psi-component frees itself from the mountain and disappears into space. From it later develops Autonomous Gray.

The Nocturnan obelisk Satrugar falls on Parrakh very close to the Protectors cathedral. An inland sea develops in which only the cathedral itself, a piece of the Nocturnan obelisk and six volcanic cones jut out. Satrugar goes mad after the fall. Gon-Orbhon tries to help him, merging with the obelisk and thereby changes into an evil being who thinks itself god. Decades later STROWWAN is finally defeated by ES. The thickness concentration of the superintelligence prospers, but the Protectors go downhill. The Ancient Trummstam is affected by it: the tree dies. The Paragon Cross then disappears, so no more new Protectors can be consecrated. Gon-Orbhon takes over power in Amringhar. The cathedral there becomes the core of his empire and is called since then the Bulwark of Parrakh. In the fight against the Orbhon Empire, which is about to overrun Ammandul, Tagg Kharzani's Kyber people are destined to play a determining role.

Their mightiest weapons are the Kybb-Titans. These sixteen to seventeen kilometer thick, misshapen spheres remind one of a living being in some strange way. Their inside is filled by Nano-Cyborgs (Technites) which can create everything that is required by the Titans. Something mysterious proceeds within the Kybb-Titans; even Tagg Kharzani does not know everything about it. The origin of the Kybb-Titans likewise remains unknown. In areas that nobody can enter the Moto-clones are developing, but nobody knows anything about them.

Gon-Orbhon taps the sun Talan or its 6D-component with a jet ray and begins the mental influencing of whole races in Ammandul. Soon afterwards he sends naval contingents into the galaxy - once again war breaks out. A thrust by the Protectors to Parrakh fails. Then ES intervenes and seals all sixteen star clusters that belong to the sphere of influence of the Protectors and the Orbhon Empire in Ammandul, Amringhar and Kyranghar in hypercocoons. After that, the star clusters have no more contact with each other or the remaining universe. The war is thereby finished all of a sudden and ES can continue to build up his thickness concentration in peace. Peace also rules at first in Jamondi. The few remaining Protectors bring the project DISTANCE TRACK to life. They want to try to create a connection between Jamondi and Arphonie. By chance it is found out that everywhere in Jamondi naval federations of the Kybb are being deployed. Tagg Kharzani is behind it: He wants to rip rule over the star ocean to himself. After heavy fighting, the Protectors pull together all their remaining forces at Barinx, in the " Ring of Nine Suns ". There they are hit devastatingly - all the Protectors fall, after Gimgon professes his feelings for Lyressea. The Sentries are evacuated in time and hidden on different planets. They are paramount to the eventual revival of the Order of Protectors. The Kybb-Titans apparently destroy Barinx and the whole nine suns < system Â…

Lyresseas report ends with that. At the same time the first participants of the Convention of the Majesties arrive on Tom Karthay.

On account of her ability of low threshold-telepathy Lyressea recognizes that the hiding place of her sister Catiaane, the Brass Sentry, must be in the city Kimte on Tom Karthay. While approximately three hundred Planetary Majesties are transported to the planet for the Convention of the Majesties, Lyressea searches the whole city.

She locates the asylum, finally, in the blister heart; said more exactly under the Pond of Trideage. The cities tree had appeared exactly over the hiding place. There is a problem: when one opens the buried sloop-sized capsule, the same thing will happen as did on Baikhal Cain: the capsule will smolder out - and thereby destroy the whole city tree with the fire and the city with it.

Zephyda, meanwhile, has to fight with completely different problems. A number of the Planetary Majesties immediately position themselves upon their arrival in Kimte against her; some even contrive a murder plot which is thwarted, however, by Kischmeide (who is, however, also no friend of Zephyda's plans). A lot of the Motanas prefer the relatively safe status quo to the inestimable risk of a revolt. When Zephyda then chooses the Roedergorm Fortress as a meeting place because there is no place big enough in Kimte, and in addition, allows the Karthog full participation in the convention, the Matriarchs are only surely outraged.

A second Schota Magathe family materializes in the Pond of Trideage. Their patriarch Dan Errithi informs that they were sent by Ka Than to deliver two messages. One concerns Rhodan and Atlan: Lotho Keraete has awoken, however, would like to remain with the Autonomous Gray to try to move him to active intervention. The second message is to be announced only at the convention. Dan Errithi also has news of a private nature for Keg Dellogun: Ka Than has modified the old laws which were given to the Schota Magathe by Carya Andaxi. In the future, the Oceanic Oracles may intervene in events and the banishment of Keg Dellogun's family was lifted. However, on Rhodan's request they decide to remain on the SWORD.

The Convention of the Majesties takes place as planned, in spite of all the problems. Rhodan leads the sessions. Zephyda holds a blazing speech after some initial insecurity and appeals for the war. Then Then Errithi delivers the message from the Autonomous Gray. Ka Than demands that the Motana choose themselves a Stellar Majesty and that Zephyda should hold this office. Lyressea and Rorkhete position themselves publicly on Zephydas side. The decision is arrived at: Zephyda is elected the Stellar Majesty with only six dissenting votes.

The Karthog of Roedergorm makes a special present to Kimte: A Protector statue. It is symbolically meant to protect Kimte. And the Motana will probably soon have bitter need of every type of protection possible…

Kimte is almost evacuated. Should Lyressea not manage to deactivate the self-destruct mechanism of the asylum capsule of her sister Catiaane, the whole city will be doomed to complete destruction. Most of the Motanas submit to their destiny, but some thousand rabble- rousers block the Blister Heart, so that Rhodan, Lyressea and Rorkhete must take a detour and a hair-raising climbing tour to reach the Pond of Trideage. On the way there Lyressea almost falls a victim to an assassination attempt: one of the demonstrators shoots an arrow at her. Lyressea shows that is more in the Sentry than had been confessed till now. In dangerous situations she can accept a second form and change into an enormous monster similar to a dragon, with armored skin, long claws and additional rows of teeth in her expanded jaws. In this battle form she can move so quickly that everything around her appears almost frozen. However, the conversion costs so much energy that the Sentry can only maintain the second form for a short time.

Rorkhete discovers the entrance to Catiaane's asylum by chance, which is camouflaged with non-detectable projectors like Lyressea's hiding place on Baikhal Cain; this one projects plant life. Rhodan, Lyressea and the Shozide follow a corridor into the depth – but the hollow in which the asylum capsule should be, is empty. When the three cross a transparent energy field at the end of the corridor, they nevertheless suddenly find themselves inside the capsule. When they explore it and the nearby surroundings, they discover two things:

- Certainly, Lyressea can operate the logic circuits of the capsule and wake Catiaane, but they cannot prevent the self-destruction of the hiding place.

- The second thing is that the capsule is not in the star ocean, but on a planet in the halo of the galaxy Algstogermaht!

The daughter of the space region's leader is afflicted with a power that makes all males insane with love for her. She was stuck on this planet to live without any males around. Her father made this world into an artist's world. When the capsule was found on this world, long ago, their family became fascinated by it. As time went on and nobody could get into it, the capsule was forgotten. Then, the world became the leader's art world for his daughter and she rediscovered it.

Now that the hyperphysical resistance has been raised and the world is cut off from everyone, the capsule's opening causes excitement. Rhodan and Rorkhete are mentally affected and attacked during an excursion outside by the daughter and her guards, looking for working technology.

Lyressea must take on her second form again to free the two. When the aggressors penetrate into the asylum capsule, no time remains to look for a way to prevent the self-destruct mechanism. Lyressea frees Catiaane from the stasis field, and the capsule promptly begins to get hot. The companions must flee through the transmitter energy field, which carries them back to Kimte and then goes out – certainly, the asylum capsule was destroyed, but this has no harmful effects on the city's foundation tree.

The Sentry Catiaane knows the planets on which the four still missing Sentries were hidden. While Rhodan and Lyressea fly with the bionic cruiser GREEN MOON to the Tan Jamondi system, Atlan, Catiaane and Zephyda proceed with the SWORD to the Ortiz system, where the male Sentry Hytath should be. Unfortunately, this area is set down in the star catalogue of the Besch as a forbidden zone. Arriving at their goal, Zephyda discovers that the Ortiz system is a weapon laden fortress. Thousands of Traken ships, including many heavy units, guard the planets. It is difficult for Catiaane to locate her brother by her low threshold telepathy. Some kind of disturbing influence hinders her in it. Finally, she feels that Hytath must be on the planet Etabe. This world is covered for the most part by an ocean of concentrated organic materials – a kind of primordial soup.

The SWORD cannot get to the planets of the Ortiz system. The Besch turn out to bring supplies to the system, so Atlan, Catiaane and some companions wait for one that is going to Etabe and plan to talk the ship into taking them along. They do not know that the king of the Besch recently sent a message to all Besch ships telling them about the re-emergence the Motana bionic cruisers and that they should provide any aid they can to the Motana if asked to. Thus, it is easy of switch to the freighter. The reason for this insubordination towards the ruling powers of the star ocean is the aggravation of the conditions under which the Besch may still drive their trading business. Up to now they could comfortably live with it, but since the hypershock the Kybb oppression has become unbearable. When Egh Larini, the head price driver of the Besch ship, meets the Sentry face to face, he even agrees to help them free of charge (which is actually, unknown of for a Besch). The amphibian beings evidently have an immense amount of respect for the Sentries, just like the Motana do.

The Besch spaceship lands on Etabe and is searched by Kybb-Traken, but Atlan and most of his people have long ago gone on their search for Hyta's eternal asylum under the protection of deflector screens. Epasaar, the Motana Support, on the other hand, is hidden in a secret compartment on the Besch ship and monitors the Kybb transmissions on the plant. Atlan's group take few measures to protect themselves, but still manage to go undiscovered. As they search, they learn that Etabe so important for the Kybb due to its rich occurrences of red hypercrystal. A massive amount of the red Khalumvatt crystal is dissolved on a massive scale in the primordial soup, practically becoming a part of the planet's food chain. With swimming factories the valuable substance is filtered and stored from the primordial soup. The radiant emissions of the crystals are also the reason for the disturbance of the telepathic connection between the Sentries. Hytath is found, in spite of all the difficulties, and is aroused as his asylum capsule destroys itself. Unfortunately, it was hidden in the middle of the biggest hypercrystal-refinery of Etabe and the meltdown of the capsule releases a deflagration of the hypercrystals. In all the resulting chaos the companions manage to get back to the Besch ship with Hytath– now half of the Sentries are back together.

Analyzing the messages that Epasaar caught, it is learned that a large shipment of crystals is being sent to Tan Jamondi II. With it, Atlan nad Zephayda know the Motana's next target.

Offscreen with the bionic cruiser GREEN MOON, Perry Rhodan and Lyressea have freed the three still missing Sentries, Metondre (Weeping), Eithani (Burning) and Atjaa (Steel). Together, all six Sentries submit Rhodan and Atlan to a test, which gives the result that, certainly, the Galactics would absolutely be suitable to receive the Protector title, but that it is possible their Knight of the Depth aura's might interfere. However, because the still missing Paragon Cross must make the final decision anyway, this problem becomes put on hold.

Hytath, the Bleeding Sentry, makes an extremely interesting announcement. Namely, he brought, still before the final decline of the Protectors, the Motana First Fleet to safety. This eight thousand unit strong association the Deathbringer Fleet and consists of ships which resemble the bionic cruisers in basic design, certainly, but are ten percent more efficient and equipped with three Deathbringer gun emplacements instead of only the one. The hiding place of the First Fleet is the Kor system, one hundred and thirty eight light years removed from Tom Karthay. A reinforcement of this type would certainly help Zephyda, because, meanwhile, she has lost three more cruisers in battles against the Kybb. Therefore, Hytath sets off to Kor. The other Sentries are also tasked to verify their knowledge about old bases, equipment warehouses, etc. Â– perhaps not all of them have been destroyed by the Kybbs and something else is to be gotten there.

Meanwhile, Rhodan, Atlan and Zephyda fly with the SWORD and the BLOOD MOON to the Tan Jamondi system to begin the search there for the Paragon Cross. Because it is a center of power of the Kybb, camouflage must be used. The bionic cruisers are accommodated in the "hollowed" trunk of a conquered cube ship of the Kybb-Cranar.

Zephyda and Medillin, the outstandingly Psi-gifted Epha-Motana of the BLOOD MOON, must steer the cube ship together with their cruisers. On the way Jospeth, The Deathbringer of the BLOOD MOON, learns more about the Biotronics. Together with Echophage he repairs the Biotronic of the BLOOD MOON, whose central sphere had been destroyed during a battle. Echophage explains to Jospeth that the destruction of the ball is not necessarily the same thing as the end of the Biotronic, because the substance Â– or the consciousness Â– of a Biotronik is distributed in a kind of nerve network about the whole bionic cruiser. It is just that the concentration is greatest in the central sphere. In the neural fiber network there is a tiny amount of Substance 101, which is the biological component of a Biotronic Â– and in a case like this, it can be repaired; appropriate aids exist on every cruiser. One can execute the repair only if the affected places are covered entirely with salt water.

Jospeth immediately gets to work. The statement by Echophage that the mysterious Substance 101 was brought by Carya Andaxi to the Protector's order and is of Porleyter origin does not mean much to Jospeth.

When the Kybb cube with the two bionic cruisers arrives in the Tan Jamondi system, the Kybb-Trakens soon become suspicious, because the engine emissions of the cube ship do not change, and this suggests that Epha-Motanas are at work with their Psi-forces. Iant Letoxx, who leads the command in the system does not attach much importance to it. For him it is much more important that precisely during these hours the HALO TRAIL stations are beginning operation again, so that the DISTANCE TRAIL can be put into operation again. The reactivated DISTANCE TRAIL sends a hyperdimensional shock wave through the solar system by which, first of all, the Kybb ships are paralyzed temporarily. Nevertheless, the superior strength, which has sat down on the track of the bionic cruisers is too large. The BLOOD MOON sacrifices itself to distract the opponents of the SWORD Â– it flies directly at a HALO TRAIL. THE SWORD escapes unnoticed. It is a flight forwards: Their course leads directly to the location of the former Protector cathedral on the planet Tan Jamondi II.

On March 9, 1332 NGE the SWORD lands on Tan Jamondi II. Lyressealeads her friends into the Rogan Cathedral. The former center of theProtector Order is abandoned, most of the technical mechanismsdisappeared and all the databanks, even private computer diaries,deleted. They do not know, how much was dismantled by the Kybbs,which they assumed looked for the Paragon Cross here at that time inthe past. However the cathedral seems to hold itself ready, becauseno traces of desecration are to be seen. The surroundings also lookmaintained, as if there is a gardener at work. Lyressea's hope topossibly find a reference to the whereabouts of the Paragon Crossseems to have been futile, until she discovers a small, solar-powered toy robot, which was once the property of the ProtectorGimgon. Gimgon was the only one, who knew anything about thedisappearance of the Paragon Cross, and he fed this knowledge intothe robot: The Paragon Cross fled to Carya Andaxi on the planet GrayFoam - in the Arphonie star cluster, which is currently unattainableby Lyressea and her friends.

Fortunately there is someone that can help Lyressea. Orrien Alar,the former guardian of Ancient Trummstam, is still alive. Heoutlasted thousands of years, being reborn each time from his ownbody after its "death", whereby all his memories were preserved. Thefact that he can no longer remember his own origin points on thefact that this reincarnation process must have gone wrong sometime,still before the fall of the Protectors. Orrien Alar had builthimself a hut in the forest within the roots of a giant dead treeand spent his time maintaining the environment of the cathedral,listening to the Kybb with a radio and recording everything as intoa recording device. In addition, he tried again and again in vain toproduce a new Ancient Trummstam from seedpods of the old one, whichhe had saved. When Atlan and Zephyda seek him out, he is impressedby the Knight's aura of the Arkonide. They bring him together withLyressea, whom he recognizes immediately.

From the diary recordings of the eternal gardener it follows thatone can reach the Arphonie star cluster using the DISTANCE TRAIL.Unfortunately these realizations bring Lyressea and their friendslittle comfort, because conditions in the Tan Jamondi systemnormalize themselves. They would be located immediately, if theylift off now with the SWORD. In addition twelve Kybb Titans come toJamondi through the newly re-established DISTANCE TRAIL, and onegoes into obit around Tan Jamondi II. At least Orrien Alar hasreason for joy: The last seedpod began to germinate; a green tip hasalready broken through the soil. For Orrien Alar is that anindication of the beginning of a new era.

On the FRIDTJOF NANSEN, a Type II DISCOVERER of the Hayok fleet,Julian Tifflor observes as an unfamiliar ship falls out from theJamondi star ocean hypercocoon and is attacked by three Kybb Cranarcube ships that have also fallen into normal space. The manta rayshaped ship destroys the cube ships in battle, but then stops in itstracks as a solar system drops into normal space in its closevicinity. A Terran boarding party boards the ship, a bionic cruiser,and finds unconscious Motana. The intact ship's computer reboots andtakes offense at the Terrans presence, but when the Motana commanderawakens and Julian Tifflor intervenes personally by holo, it doesnot take long before they sit down peacefully at the table andexchange information. Tifflor thus learns all about the currentconditions in the star ocean and the background of recent events.They separate friends - the Motana on the SHADOW PLAY want tocontinue to hunt down more Kybb-Cranar with their bionic cruiser.

In the meantime, there are new difficulties on board the SWORD. TheMotanas, especially Zephyda, suffer from debilitating headaches andlose their Psi-forces. Atlan supposes that there must be a Kyber-Neutro near the cathedral. He and Lyressea search for it and find asubterranean facility manned by robots, which had failed after theactivation of the DISTANCE TRAIL and now, after the conditions inthe Tan Jamondi system have returned to normal, reactivated. Thisfacility has presumably already been in operation since soon afterthe Blood Night of Barinx, to guard the cathedral from any access byMotanas. Lyressea takes on her second shape, which Altan perceivesas a metallic body, similar to a Cosmocrat robot, instead of adragon like Perry Rhodan had seen, and destroys the robot crew andthe Kyber-Neutro by herself. After a little while, the space quakesin the whole star ocean massively increase in strength. All the Kybb-Titans are drawn off to the third planet, Tan-Ice. Therefore thepath is free for the SWORD to lift off – and she rushes into theDISTANCE TRAIL, in order to try retrieving the Paragon Cross.

On September 8, 1332 NGE, the star ocean of Jamondi is finallycompletely thrown back into Einstein space. Hyper-hurricanes ofnever before seen strength rage, producing space quakes anddistortions of the space time structure. After two days theseeffects fade away, and the hypercocoon has completely dissolved. Nowthe LFT ships can penetrate into the star ocean and go on the searchfor the Rhodan and Atlan. But at the same time, Julian Tifflor canonly wonder what dangers have now been released, that ES hadpresumably locked away in the hypercocoon.

On their way to the Greater Magellanic Cloud, the RICHARD BURTON
must make several maintenance stops and refill their supplies of
Hawk converters on the spaceports of the Crystal Storm fleet, which
had been sent on ahead. The first stop is to be on the spaceport
DAWN-1. All five DAWN stations consist of three coupled together
PONTOON tenders and two LFT BOXES. They were designated after the
space sector in which they are stationed. Because the RICHARD BURTON
was damaged in a hyperstorm, the first maintenance stop is urgently
required – but something is not right on the spaceport.

Cilia Perish, a service engineer assigned to the station, notices
this when her lover disappears without a trace. It turns out that he
is only one of many crewmen that are either not to be found or have
called in sick. Nobody seems to take Cilia's concerns seriously.
Many crewmembers appear completely apathetic, while others behave
like remote controlled zombies. Cilia starts looking for her lover
on her own initiative, but is eventually arrested by the station
commander and locked up. With the help of her superintendent, who
has not been affected, she is able to get free, and the two observe
how the station crew is literally gorging themselves in a canteen.
There, Cilia's superior also changes into a hostile "zombie", and
she must paralyze him. Cilia discovers that the man has a small
swelling, like something from an insect bite. She realizes that she
has seen similar swellings on the other affected people.

When the RICHARD BURTON arrives, Reginald Bull immediately becomes
suspicious because of the strange behavior of the commander. He
sends Gucky and Kantiran onto the station. The two quickly find out
what has happened: on DAWN-1 a foreign being who was picked up in
intergalactic space from an escape pod has nested. The stranger is
an gigantic intelligent insect and can mentally control the people
with tiny living "relays" who bore into their bodies. In this way,
the stranger lures people to himself so he can eat them, because he
needs fresh meat to feed the brood growing up in him. He has brought
the station under his control and would only too gladly also over
take the RICHARD BURTON, in order to bring his birthed brood to
other victims.

Meanwhile, Cilia was also attracted by the gigantic insect, but
Kantiran is punctually on the spot to save her and kill the gigantic
insect. With the death of the stranger and his brood, the suggestive
influence fades and after a short time the maintenance work can be
accomplished.

Due the raised hyperimpedance the flight of the RICHARD BURTON to the Greater Magellanic Cloud lasts several months and devours huge amounts of material in the form of numerous Hawk converters. There are also sporadic disturbances by abused aggregates or non-stop usage of the Nugas spheres. But they had counted on difficulties of this kind - other problems cause more headaches for the crew. On the one hand, tensions grow more and more between Kantiran and his mother Ascari da Vivo, until Kantiran finally looses his head with the simple sight of the Mascant, producing a rather embarrassing scene. On the other hand, an Akone mini-robot causes more serious trouble. The robot had been smuggled aboard back during the incident in the Luna shipyard (PR 2234) and had the order to take out the crew and steal the ship. However, the Akones had clearly believed the official version of Operation Crystal Storm and accordingly programmed the robot incorrectly. The crew is able to shut the mini- robot down without any great damage being done to the ship.

In the first days of January 1333 NGE the RICHARD Burton reaches the Greater Magellanic Cloud. The space-moving civilizations here are also suffering terribly from the results of the raised hyperimpedance. Although the RICHARD BURTON approaches the origin of the jet ray directed upon Sol, Bre Tsinga shows no reaction to it.

Near the Tarantula Nebula, a new star cluster is discovered. It must have returned to normal space, just like the star ocean of Jamondi, from a hidden hypercocoon, but much earlier. This star cluster is the origin of the jet ray and therefore probably also the seat of Gon-Orbhon's empire. Spherical energy fields incredibly rich in energy destroy two Gurrad ships, which try to penetrate into the star cluster. After a little while the RICHARD BURTON is also registered by a kind of detection ray and is fired upon with one of these energy torpedoes. It can avoid the destruction only by a premature jump into hyperspace. But before this happens, Bull is able to recover the survivors of the two destroyed Gurrad ships.

The spirit of crew member Wolpor Farang of the RICHARD BURTON is separated from his body by an unknown influence and floats around as a bodiless consciousness. He must hold onto "anchors", among other things in the spirit of Reginald Bull, in order to not be lured by the singing of siren like apparitions in space. The bodiless spirit observes later events without being able to be perceived by anyone or being able to communicate with them.

Only three Gurrads survived the destruction of their ships by energy torpedoes. Bull had ordered their rescue pods recovered. They take part in the continuing flight of the DISCOVERER as somewhat unwilling guests. Any ship that penetrates into the Parrakhon star cluster is immediately attacked by the self-controlled energy torpedoes, which the RICHARD BURTON theorizes come from automated defense bases. Even RICHARD BURTON would not survive a direct hit of this weapon, which is called a Helix torpedo on account of the way they work. They suppose that the torpedoes react to the energy signatures typical of a spaceship. Therefore, as they continue their flight, they deactivate all ship systems if a torpedo is sensed again. The plan actually works and the RICHARD BURTON is ignored by the torpedoes.

Near the center of the star cluster a kind of spaceship graveyard is discovered. Gucky, Icho Tolot and the three Gurrads examine one of the wrecks. It is more than 10,000 years old - but only at the spots visibly destroyed. The undamaged areas are substantially younger. A weapon was likely used which causes an accelerated ageing of the material. The Gurrads retrieve a log of the unfamiliar ship, but end up in a trap. The boarding party is attacked by innumerable robots which are steered by the still functioning ship's computer, and their connection with the RICHARD BURTON breaks off. During the retreat, Gucky is badly wounded. The bodiless consciousness, who has observed this, intervenes. He is able to give Bull the thought that the boarding party is sitting in a trap at a particular location in the wreck.
Bull orders an escape tunnel bored into the ship's hull by disintegrator cannon fire and the wreck's on board computer is destroyed.

Shortly after the boarding crew returns (Gucky will survive), the RICHARD BURTON must play dead again, because another Helix torpedo emerges and destroys the wreck. As a side effect of this explosion the ship's hypercrystals in important generators of the DISCOVERER are now decaying into dust. Because a repair in space would be too risky, they begin flying towards a nearby solar system with a habitable planet. When the linear flight is introduced, Wolpor's bodiless consciousness loses his "anchor" and succumbs to the siren call of the space medusas.

The RICHARD BURTON lands to do repair work on an Earth-like planet in the Parrakhon star cluster and remains there for eight days.
During their stay there, Gucky works his way through a mental crisis. The physical injuries, which he suffered with the investigation of the spaceship wreck in the previous issue, have almost healed, but all his fur was burned off. Until the fur has grown again, Gucky will not allow his friend Bull to see him in the medical station. However, by the end of the eight days Gucky is back to his old self.

The evaluation of the logbook found in the wreck brings new
findings: the spaceship had belonged to a part of Gon-Orbhon's forces, which were to have attacked Jamondi. At the moment when the hypercocoons were activated the voice of Gon-Orbhon fell silent, presumably because of the shock, which he had suffered by the fact that his "pipeline" to Sol was cut off. The now leaderless army in Parrakhon fell upon each other over the succeeding centuries and at last had activated the self-sufficient and decentralized weapon systems known today as Helix torpedoes.

On the planet, which the RICHARD BURTON uses as a repair stop live the last Cortezen. These short humanoid former support race of the Protectors of Jamondi have sunk back to a relatively primitive state of civilization. When a Corteze discovers the spaceship hidden behind its deflector screens and approaches it, it turns out that these beings can "see through" the deflector screens. In addition, Jerofe Gangan Ouwmar, the indeed fearing, but cheeky Corteze, has the special ability of "true dreaming". Thus he had already dreamed of the fact that a spaceship would land on his home world and bring death to the Cortezen. When he sees the Gurrads, he suffers a shock.

The Gurrads also cause more trouble when Bull brings them with him in the nearby Cortezen city. They suddenly attack the "weak"
natives. Bull promptly incarcerates them, but the damage is already done.

A few days later many Cortezen succumb to a puzzling illness, which was brought - as the Terrans figure out just in time – by the Gurrads. It turns out that the Guarrads are the descendants of the Cortezen who were not trapped in the hypercocoon. Although they developed to the point of being visually different, their diseases can still affect the Cortezen to the point where a cold virus is deadly. An antidote is developed, and the disaster is turned away.
Jerofe closes a friendship with the mousebeaver, who is now completely recovered and joins the crew of the ship as the RICHARD BURTON continues its trip, having learned more about Gon-Orbhon's history.

After a buffeting and disorienting flight through the breaking down DISTANCE TRAIL, Rhodan, Atlan and the crew of the SWORD find themselves in the Arphonie star cluster. Although they do not come out at all close to Castle Kherzesch, they do end up in the middle of a hornet's nest and are hunted from practically the minute they appear. Beside units of the Kybb-Cranar and the Kybb-Traken the target system is swarming with thousands of units of an up to now unknown type: Discus-shaped ships with 1,200 meters of diameter, 700 meters of height and up to six cylinder-shaped modules in their upper and lower sides. In addition, a Kybb-Titan is stationed there, which likewise immediately takes up the pursuit. With an extreme strain Zephyda and her Sources succeed in forcing the SWORD to enter hyperspace with below the minimum normal entry speed, however, the pursuers discover the bionic cruiser over and over again very quickly, so that the Motanas are granted no rest.

Help for the SWORD comes from an unexpected side. When the ship must flee once again before the cylinder discuses, they are destroyed by the dozen by a gleaming hyperphysical apparition that suddenly appears, which reminds Perry and Atlan of a 15 kilometer long whale that can move in space at an absurdly fast speed. This "whale" seems to be interested, however, above all in destroying the SWORD - once again Zephyda must give her all; they make it into hyperspace, but then she falls unconscious and the SWORD re-enters the normal continuum in empty space. When some cylinder discuses again attack after a little while, the SWORD cannot flee, but must position itself to fight. A hundred ships suddenly appear, which look like oversized bionic cruisers, but have a white color and use a transition engine. These `white cruisers' guard the SWORD while the discus ships receive reinforcement by a Kybb-Titan. The white cruisers have no chance against it, but then two "space whales" intervene. Before them, even the Titan seizes flight.

However, as the "whales" attack both parties, all the white cruisers can do is attempt to escape. The SWORD is anchored and carried along by one of the white cruisers. They manage to escape the whales and end up in a system with no planets. The commander of the foreign ship announces himself over a holo-connection – he appears to be a Shozide, who calls himself General Traver…

In an apparently meaningless B-story, one of the Sources on the SWORD had smuggled aboard a pet. It turns out to have been pregnant and during the trip through the DISTANCE TRAIL, the babies are mutated in the womb into destructive monsters. They are birthed as soon as the ship comes out of the passage and proceed to start eating through everything inorganic in the ship. They are finally stopped when Rhodan orders Ecophage to bleed all the air out of the ship as they are beginning to eat into the ship brain's casing, thereby suffocating them to death.

The SWORD is taken in piggyback by a white cruiser and is brought to Carya Andaxi's home world Gray Foam. At the moment there all the available ships of the Gray Foam Squadron are being gathered together. General Traver, the commander of the squadron, is not very friendly. In his eyes the people of the SWORD are useless refugees or better said madmen because they have the intention to attack the militarily far superior perfidious Protector Tagg Kharzani. Traver regards Rorkhete as a weakling and does not recognize Zephyda's claim to leadership. Of course he also refuses any help, if Rhodan and Atlan (who he regards as Motanas) want to attack Castle Kherzesch. The five hundred transition ships (T-ships) of which Traver disposes would anyway be not even a roughly sufficient armed forces for that kind of mission.

The Arphonie-Shozides have enough problems of their own, as it is.
They serve Carya Andaxi, who has built up a shadow state since her exile in the hypercocoon and offered resistance to Tagg Kharzani.
Approximately twelve planets of her shadow state were hidden up till now in artificial space time folds, but they have dissolved due to the hyperimpedance change. Therefore the worlds are now defenseless.
The Kybb have quickly overcome the trouble linked with the raised hyperimpedance and press heavily upon the white cruisers with her new cylinder discuses. All Traver knows about the "space whales" is that they are called Hyperdimos and that they attack spaceships at random. Where they come from, what they are and what their intentions are, is unknown.

While the Arphonie-Shozides consult on their next actions, the SWORD is held on Gray Foam. Rorkhete, who has to suffer from the despising rejection by his fellow Shozides looks around a little on the planet. He meets some women and finds out from them that the local Shoziden are all the descendants of only two hundred individuals who had been on Gray Foam at the time it was trapped in the hypercocoon.

Now " fresh blood " is urgently required to maintain genetic variety. Rorkhete is just what the women have been looking for - he is to serve them as a breeding bull! On the one hand it is a tempting offer for the still young loner, but on the other hand, it is also a humiliation. Rorkhete refuses, but the women do not accept it. They lure him into an ambush and take for themselves by force what he was not ready to voluntarily give them. They also read and destroy Rorkhete's awkwardly written diary.

Meanwhile Rhodan and Atlan bring the Sentry Lyressea and the Oceanic Oracles into play. General Traver immediately recognizes whom he has before himself, but is obviously not impressed enough. Namely, as Lyressea ordered him to be put in contact with Carya Andaxi, Traver regretfully refuses. The reason for Traver's strange behavior reveals itself, as Gray Foam is discovered by the Kybb and attacked.

Because four Kybb-Titans also approach, any opposition is useless.
The planet is destroyed in the fire of the Titans. The SWORD escapes together with Travers cruiser ELEBATO, to which it is still coupled, and the remaining Squadron. Now Traver reveals the truth: the planet was not Gray Foam at all, but a dummy meant to distract the enemy.

The SWORD is brought to the "real" planet Gray Foam. Here live the people of the Toron Erih, who are also known as submarine architects. In the depths of the oceans of Gray Foam, which cover ninety percent of the planet, are not only enormous cities of the Toron Erih and the Shozides, but also manufacturing facilities in which the T-cruisers are produced today. In earlier times the bionic cruisers were made here. This is also the location where Substance
101 is harvested. It is produced in tiny amounts by undersea beings, the Porlim shadows. This gigantic jellyfish which grows to a length of one hundred meters was genetically programmed millennia ago Carya Andaxi for this purpose, but originally the Substance 101 came from a Porleyter design lab. The submarine architects themselves are humanoid, gill-breathing beings which can exist only in the ocean.

Their bodies are thin and covered with scales. On the back they carry two wings of tentacles intertwined into each other, the Toron.
The Toron serves for locomotion and carrying out low frequency communication.

The Schota-Magathe also live on Gray Foam. Since the Blood Night, they have cared for the physically ill as well as emotionally injured Protector Carya Andaxi, from whom they are descended. Remo Quotost, the main leader of the submarine architects, considers the Protector as his personal ward. When the SWORD arrives, he regards it as a diversionary maneuver by Tagg Kharzanis – for the planets of the shadow government which were long ago also transported to other positions in Arphonie and placed in space-time folds, have now fallen back to normal space, and the Toron Erih are preparing to face the worst at any minute, namely discovery by the enemy.

However, Remo Quotost is finally convinced as to the fact that the bionic cruiser is real and that the arrivals are no agents of the enemy. Although he stands according to rank above General Traver, Remo Quotost himself cannot decide on the request of the petitioners for help in the battle against Tagg Kharzani. While Rorkhete is active – this time voluntarily – as a sperm donor and Keg Dellogun's family mixes among their people, at last Rhodan, Atlan, Lyressea and Zephyda are allowed to go to Carya Andaxi.

The Protector is certainly torn her depression by the pieces of news she receives and she also perceives the Knight's aura of the Galactics. She also clearly remembers Lyressea. However, on account of Andaxi's high images of morality, she cannot be moved to give military support or to even betray the hiding place of the Paragon Cross (if she actually knows). War, so Carya Andaxi expresses herself is "the wrong wave". She will do nothing to encourage war.

But the war already stands before the door to her house: a probe has been touched in space by the spurs of a hyperstorm and radiated hyperradio signals for some seconds, before it could be exploded by a code signal from Gray Foam. Should a Kybb ship have caught these signals, it would not take long, before Gray Foam is discovered.

Besides, the arrival of a bionic cruiser in Arphonie has not remained hidden to their enemy. He will risk everything to track down the SWORD …

The hyperradio impulses radiated by the space probe have clearly not gone undiscovered: a cylinder disc ship by chance flying past near the system catches the impulses and approaches the planet Gray Foam. It becomes a danger when it approaches the planet's surface, because on gray foam all the cities and facilities are under the water and a screening mechanism was integrated into this sea, so that energy emissions are hardly to be located from above water. The Kybb ship is only destroyed when it comes underneath the security distance. Because only purely mechanical weapon systems are used, the hostile ship does not explode, but breaks up in numerous parts, some of them relatively large. Certainly, a revealing energy flare was avoided in this way, but at the same time there exists the danger that somebody could have survived in the bigger debris pieces. Search parties are sent out, but suddenly the contact with them breaks off. It is soon certain: one of the feared Moto-clones has come to Gray Foam with the cylinder disc.

The Moto-clone is a robot android mixed being fitted out with his own consciousness by the name 109. He was built by Technits and is essentially an endoskeleton, which consists of 32 million multi- functional elements as well as a decentralized brain which is distributed in an eightfold redundancy about the whole body. The whole thing is wrapped up by a kind of flesh covering, which can regenerate itself, while it takes substances for the new formation from his surroundings. The whole thing reminds one of an upright walking reptile with two arms and two legs which is 2.9 meters tall,
2 meters wide and 1.95 metric tons heavy. Certainly, a part of 109's endoskeleton was destroyed during the crash and most of his extensive weapon systems irreparably destroyed, but he can take losses of up to 20 million endoskeleton elements without being limited in his basic functions and is still a combat unit that can take on whole armies. Because his hyperbroadcasting station has failed, his highest priority consists of taking control of such a device from the inhabitants of Gray Foam, because from radio messages he caught, he knows where he is. Certainly, his protection screen projectors have also failed out, but the most terrible weapon of which a Moto-clone disposes still functions: the moto-shock. It is a psionic shock wave front which destroys all life in the radius of several kilometers, but s ineffective against biotronics. It also drains 109 of most of his energy. The psionic source cell discharges entirely and must be loaded again (which does not take long, however), before a moto-shock can be released again.

With this weapon 109 develops in into a great danger for Gray Foam within a short time. On his search for a hyperbroadcasting station the moto-clone namely pursues still other goals: to gather information on Gray Foam, to cause as much damage as he can and to kill Carya Andaxi, or – if possible – to abduct her. In his travels, 109 discovers large hatches in the sea bed that must hide something. They have clearly not been opened in thousands of years.
As he moves along, nothing seems to be able to stop the moto-clone on his campaign of destruction. Many thousands of living beings are killed when he destroys a submarine sphere (one of many undersea cities). But then Rhodan and Atlan, who believe their cell activator chips can protect them enough from the moto-shock, set up a trap for their opponent. They present themselves as bait, and at the crucial moment a group of Schota-Magathes are to teleport the moto-clone into space. The plan succeeds, but only with the second attempt. The first group of the Schota-Magathes falls victim to the moto-shock, but then 109 does not have enough energy for the second blow.

Another group of the Oceanic Oracles produces a teleportation rip funnel through which the moto-clone is flung into orbit around the sun where white cruisers hold him in custody with shackle fields.

Rhodan and Atlan, who barely survived the moto-shock, do not want to let the opportunity escape them to examine one of the most powerful weapons Tagg Kharzani has.
The deaths of so many Schota-Magathes at once caused by 109, shock Carya Andaxi so hard that it finally tears her from her depression and lethargy. Certainly, she will not still intervene actively in the battle, but she will no longer oppose the wishes of the arrivals from Jamondi. She betrays to Rhodan and Atlan that the Paragon Cross was last seen in the Petaccha system, 51 light years removed from Gray Foam. Unfortunately, the system has long been firmly in the hands of Tagg Kharzani now. Carya Andaxi recognizes Zephyda as a Stellar Majesty. She will be Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the shadow government. Lyressea receives the function of an adviser with the power of veto over the Stellar Majesty. Zephyda then declares a union of the free people of Jamondi, the shadow government and the Terrans – the alliance of morality.

In the Greater Magellanic Cloud (or Parrakhon star cluster) the
RICHARD BURTON pursues Gon-Orbhon's 6-dimensional jet ray up to
its point of origin. Or at least almost, because the origination
point of the ray, the Parr system, is completely wrapped up in an
energy screen of an indefinable nature. In the nine planet system
several huge ships are observed which carry a cube shaped object
with 500-meters of edge length outside through a gap in the energy
screen.

From radio messages caught, they learn that the gigantic ships are
called Kybb-Titans. The smaller object receives a push, which
rockets it away at a speed of 3000 kms / sec, so that it quickly
moves away from the Par system without engines of its own.
Afterwards, the Kybb-Titans immediately withdraw again behind the
energy screen. The omnipresent Helix torpedoes, which react to all
energy developments typical for ships are clearly a danger for Gon-
Orbhon also.

Ascari da Vivo and her bodyguard Qertan, using access codes
blackmailed from a crewman of the RICHARD BURTON select themselves a
Stealth-Shift and fly with it to the cubic artifact. Reginald Bull
follows them with another Shift, taking along Kantiran, Trerok,
Daellian and a space soldier - plus, the man whom he suspects as the
betrayer blackmailed by Ascari. Because of the detection danger only
low acceleration values may be used, therefore, the flight lasts two
days. Already on the way Kantiran catches the mental message of an
entity that must be in the artifact. When the team penetrates the
cube, Kant is separated from the group. Again he receives contact
with the unknown being. It appears to him in various holo-
projections and continues to mentally communicate with him. The good-
natured being basically knows nothing about itself except for the
fact that it was created to destroy. Bull and his people find
out meanwhile that the cube is nothing less than a practically
cobbled together conglomerate of extremely highly competitive energy
producers and virtual reality projectors.

When the equipment of the cube becomes booted up, the anonymous
being insists that the Galactics should leave. Together with Ascari
and Qertan they leave the artifact – after the Dron shoots the
betrayer, under the guise of defending Kantiran, so that nothing can
be revealed. From the Shift it is observed how the cube changes into
a huge detection beacon. The purpose of the whole thing: To attract
the Helix torpedoes. This works out well - too well for the RICAHRD
BURTON, which retrieves the Shift at the last second. Tens of
thousands of energy torpedoes appear, rush at the beacon and
explode, until presumably thewhole star cluster is cleaned of them.
The RICHARD BURTON is too close to this spectacle; the greater parts
of their so urgently required stocks of hypercrystal are changed to
dust by the hyperenergy development of the explosions. Bull follows
a suggestion of the Gurrads and takes course for their home world
Roewis after leaving an observer ship in place. The mass explosion
still has the second apparent side effect, which was certainly also
not included in Gon-Orbhon's plan: The protective screen of the
Parr system has broken down.

The RICHARD BURTON goes into orbit around the planet Roewis, which is the center of the Gurrad Empire, in order to have the necessary repair work done there and to acquire new hypercrystals. Reginald Bull receives permission to speak at the Crown of Roewis, which is a kind of meeting place for all the races of the Greater Magellanic Cloud and consists a mélange of buildings of all the conceivable architectural styles of these races. He takes along Kantiran, Mal Detair, Gucky and Icho Tolot.

The news that the Gurrads are descended from the Cortezen spreads like a brush fire through the planetary net after a press interview.
However, everything does not run smoothly for Bully. Be tried, on the one hand to make the best deal possible with the Terran's trading partner, the patriarch of the so-called Syndicate of 22, who in turn tried to pull the greatest possible profit from the predicament of the Terrans. Bull's appeal to the people of the Greater Magellanic Cloud to stand together united against Gon-Orbhon bumps into little requited love. The Gurrads believe, that Gon- Orbhon has his sight set upon only the Terrans and that they themselves are not in danger.

While Bully deals with the political situation, Kantiran and Mal Detair befriend some Gurrad children to help them explore the underground warrens of the Crown of Roewis. Kantiran has been feeling a bit claustrophobic on the RICHARD BURTON. He also wants to practice his low threshold telepathy on the local animal life. They come upon the rat like beings called Tentzen, which are worshipped as reincarnated Gurrad doing penance before moving onto the afterlife. Kantiran is able to control one of them, but notes that there is a kind of king Tentze that is much more intelligent, cunning and strong-willed. He is unable to be influenced by Kantiran.

The Gurrads are busy meanwhile in dealing with internal squabbles and intrigues. The situation escalates when two diplomats from the Roewis and the Mantoll Empire's are murdered. A presently taking place conference with which a trading alliance is to be closed between these two Gurrad realms is thereby presumably torpedoed. It is to be owed only to the intervention of Gucky that it does not come to a bloodbath. Then the system alarm is suddenly given. An unknown disk shaped ship approaches Roewis, does not react to any radio message and cannot stopped by the planet's defensive fire.

The disk ship sets down two objects on Roewis and disappears again.
Crystal lumps of 5D-frequency quartz are found by the Gurrads, who examine the objects and then begin to behave very strangely. After a short time, many of the other Gurrads on the planet also succumb to the peculiar influencing. In the end, an accommodation is made between the races, but not the kind desired by Bully: They all begin to give honor together to Gon-Orbhon!

It is clear that the Gurrads are being influenced mentally by Gon- Orbhon. Bull and his companions end up in danger of being captured and can flee only because Kantiran provides a distraction. He brings masses of the dangerous Tentzen under his control and rushes them at the lion people. In the process though, the king Tentze attacks and wounds Kantiran before Gucky is able to teleport him out. The RICHARD BURTON is meanwhile fit to fly again and once the party returns it escapes back to the Parrakhon star cluster where the cruiser EAGLE left behind under Daellian's command to observe the system waits for them.

Reginald Bull, Icho Tolot and Gucky smuggle themselves using one of the many spaceship wrecks which float throughout the Parrakhon nebula, onto the planet Parrakh. Gucky is periodically itching wherever a small local louse that he had put in his fur goes. It is supposed to groom and care for his fur, until Gucky totally regains his self-confidence after his recent injuries.

Once on the planet, Gucky looks around a little and ends up picking up a local teenage Arvezen(another branch of the Cortezen), who is trying to stowaway on a space hunter. Apparently he is the son of a Magistrate, who does not want to go into the religious order, but become a warrior instead. All around the area, the locals are busy refitting ships and producing mysterious devices.

Next to the Bulwark of Paarakh, which appears deserted, Gucky discovers another building, which he recognizes as being very similar to the Temple of the Gradual Decline that had been in the process of being built when the RICHARD BURTON had left Earth! This is further proof that they are on the right trail.

In the process of investigating a Kybb-Titan, Gucky's deflector fails and he suspects that he was caught on camera. When he teleports back to the hideout, he suddenly becomes incapacitated by burning pains.

It turns out that his grooming louse was female, pregnant and laying eggs in his fur which have now begun to hatch and plague him.
Due to being in the presence of 5D radiation on the Kybb ships, they have also mutated into small 5D radiation broadcasting stations that might betray their location. Bull and Icho quickly delouse him.

As it turns out, Gucky was in fact spied out by cameras and the Governor of Parrakh sets a trap for them, complete with a Moto- clone. When the (now four) spies go back to the Kybb-Titan to investigate how it can move at the high speeds that had been observed, they discover thousands of containers with genetic material bread from Motana genes. It is used somehow to boost the ship's speed. A bit later, the Galactics fall for the trap and when Gucky and Bully appear in the trap on the Titan, the Moto-clone sets off his Moto-shock, which incapacitates Bully, Icho and Gucky and kills the teenager, along with everyone else in range of the Moto-shock.

Just as the Galactics are taken out of the fight, a psionic wave rushes out from the Nocturnen obelisk of Gon-Orbohn. The god is now waking up!

On February 8, 1333 NGE Gon-Orbhon, whose body has resided for millennia within the Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar and whose spirit had merged with the insane obelisk's consciousness, finally awakes – namely earlier than Satrugar. With his awakening the former Protector gets back memories which have been buried since before his being found by the Sentry Lyressea. Rather unconsciously Gon-Orbhon projects the flood of memories in the spirit of Bré Tsinga on the RICHARD BURTON. The Cosmopsychologist serves virtually as a medium and verbalizes Gon-Orbhon's memories.

Gon-Orbhon is an artificial being from the gene smithies of the Cosmocrats. He is a being of the same kind like the Seven Mighty and in a probably millennia-long process Gon-Orbhon is trained to be a potential spore ship-commander – a substitute, in with case one of the Mighty should be killed. The education takes place in one of at least nineteen Cosmiturnities, a bizarre training location hidden in a hyperspace bubble, where Gon-Orbhon is the single student and which he finds out in the course of time, consists of a single gigantic living being. The Cosmitunities compete with each other, as only the best pupil is accepted by the Cosmocrats. Although Gon- Orbhon learns everything what one could know about the Multiversum, and although he discovers his ability of "mental dislocation", with which he can bring intelligent beings under his control, he threatens to fail the selection procedure. Because he does fears (probably not unjustifiably) that the Cosmocrats would simply destroy him in the case of his failure, he flees from the Cosmiturnity. Although he succeeds, he irrevocably loses all that knowledge which he has collected up to that point in time. This includes all his memories. In this state, Lyressea found him flying in space in the survival capsule.

The rest is history: with the attempt to save the dying Nocturnen obelisk Gon-Orbhon's spirit merges with Satrugar. The resulting mental being goes insane, Gon-Orbhon's body remains in the obelisk and is kept alive by a cybernetic servant. Gon-O/Satrugar decides that he must become more powerful than anything that could ever threaten to put him in mortal danger again. This is why he decides he must become a superintelligence. With the help of fragments of the Nocturnen obelisk, which serve him as a relay, he brings one race after the other under his control. He lures Tagg Kharzani with the offer to make him immortal. He is instigated by an envoy of the Chaos powers to face off against ES and is pointed towards to the "corpse" of ARCHETIM, which henceforth serves him as an energy source. The counterblow by ES, the banishment into the hypercocoon, comes unexpectedly for Gon-O/Satrugar and he lapses into a coma.

After the hypercocoon fails, he awakes and after the recovery of his memories Gon-Orbhon suddenly finds himself in his original body.
Because Satrugar has not completely awoken yet, Gon-Orbhon decides to try to get away and get control of his own life. He begins to run for the exit from the obelisk, and when he does not succeed in getting out, attempts committing suicide. But Satrugar is now also completely awake, and forces Gon-Orbhon's spirit to merge again with the Nocturnen obelisk. They again fall completely into their insane state. Gon-O/Satrugar Immediately gets down to shipping a particularly large fragment of the obelisk, together with the humanoid body of the former Protector, in a Kybb-Titan to Terra. The captured spies Reginald Bull, Icho Tolot and Gucky are also taken along. Then Gon-O/Satrugar notices the connection with Bré Tsinga, sends some ships out to its location and takes out his follower with a psionic shock, due to which the whole crew of the DISCOVERER also temporarily loses consciousness. Only Specter, hidden in the computer network of the RICHARD BURTON remains capable of acting and steers the ship from the danger zone, before the ships sent out by Gon-O/Satrugar arrive.

At 21:48:07 o'clock shipboard time on August 2,1333 NGE Bré Tsinga is taken to the medical station and declared dead. Malcolm Scott Daellian, leading expedition leader, orders the RICHARD BURTON to wait for the rest of the Terran fleet to arrive in the Greater Magellenic Cloud, but it is already a week late.

In the SWORD, Rhodan, Zephyda and Lyressea approach the planet Petac
where the Paragon Cross is supposed to have been hidden. The
planet is only weakly protected by the Kybbs - no Kybb-Titan is
present – and the hedgehog beings have barely started
re-equipping everything to old technology. Therefore, is the SWORD
is discovered only with the actual landing approach, and the
pursuers can be easily shaken off. Lyressea feels the presence of
the Paragon Cross, but she cannot locate it its precise location.

The crew of the SWORD accidentally causes great grief for the
Tabtrees, the relatively primitive humanoid natives of this world.
The swarm of Kybb hunters who were attempting to intercept the SWORD
races through the middle of a flying wedding procession of a Tabtree
tribe and inadvertantly kills the whole royal family. A holy icon is
lost, a holo-globe which was left behind by Carya Andaxi during her
last visit, millennia ago, and has been revered since that time by
the Tabtrees, just like the Protector herself. Sonder fan Dor, the
priest of the Tabtrees, holds himself guilty for the death of the
royal family and the loss of the icon, and reflects upon revenge. He
enters the holy mountain Gorithon whose entrance is only known by
the priest. There is an artifact there, which is supposed to be a
mighty weapon. With it, he wants to destroy the Kybbs that maintain
a base on Petac.

After Rhodan and his people learn in the Tabtree settlement about
the whole unfortunate affair, they follow the priest, but cannot
prevent him from being captured by the Kybbs. The artifact -
possibly a hand emitter without enough energy - turned out to be
ineffective. Because Rhodan supposes that the Paragon Cross is also
in the holy mountain, it is decided that the priest must be rescued,
before the Kybbs can interrogate him. This mission succeeds - but
only because Lyressea is able, on account of her share of Cyno
genes, to temporarily take on the figure of a Kybb-Traken. After
returning to the SWORD, some tricks are necessary to dissuade the
priest from his feelings of guilt and thoughts of suicide (they use
a holo of Carya Andaxi with Echophage's manipulated voice), but
then he leads Rhodan, Zephyda and Lyressea into the holy mountain.

Inside the cave there, float seven circularly arranged
cuneiform "graves" which throw no shadow. Perry wonders if they have
any relation to Cynos. In the middle of the circle stands a base,
but it is empty – it is where the emitter which Sonder fan Dor
took had lain.

Lyressea, who now clearly feels the presence of the Paragon Cross
right there, even though it cannot be seen, tries to take up mental
contact with it. The Paragon Cross then appears in a brilliant light
show: it is a fiercely shining, two meter high and one meter wide
energy spiral from which an oppressively strong mental radiation
emanates. The Paragon Cross carries not only a splinter of
consciousness of the superintelligence ES, but is an independent
being. This already reveals itself when it refuses at first to stand
by the Alliance of Morality. Only after a passionate pleading by
Lyressea and an angry scolding by Perry does it change its opinion,
assure them of its support and teleport itself into the SWORD.

Before they fly off, Rhodan hands a new holo-globe to the priest
Sonder fan Dor and gives him the (of course, phony) message from
Carya Andaxis to not commit suicide, so that he can train a new
priest and lead his people to a new beginning.

Atlan and General Traver are on the move with three Shozide T-
cruisers in the middle of enemy country to get information about the
military strength of Tagg Kharzani's troops. They want to try to
carry off a strategic star map. Therefore, the T-cruisers fly to the
Kher system, the heart of Kharzani's empire, - there, they have
the chance to pull an important tip from the radio traffic. News is
caught that there is a Kybb space fort in the Ashaween system, but
no mobile hostile armed forces, especially no Kybb-Titans. This fort
would be perfect for their purpose. In addition, Traver uses the
short stay in the Kher system to show Atlan that an artificial dust
cloud, which allows no sensor detection inside it, surrounds the
whole solar system. What is really inside the huge cloud of dust
remains completely veiled.

Boarding parties are required for the attack on the space fort. The
Death Group, a practiced team of the eighty best and hardest Shozide
male and female fighters who also call themselves, with pleasure,
the " Iron "and the "Steel" takes over this job. They live
only for the fight. There is no spare time for them - between their
missions they are endlessly training, and it is brutal. The newest,
and at first not properly accepted member of the Death Group is
Rorkhete. The former nomad had crept aboard Atlan's T-cruiser
ELEBATO as a stowaway to escape from his existence as a breeding
bull, and wanted to train under the Death Group. His martial
comrades had impressed him so that he stubbornly remains, until they
allow him to train with the Iron. During the following days, while
the ELEBATO flies with its two sister ships to the Kher system and
afterwards to the Kybb space fort, Rorkhete takes the worst beating
of his life with the Iron at first. However, bit by bit, he learns
and manages to earn some respect. He is then even grudgingly allowed
to take part in the attack on the fort.

The penetration runs well in the beginning, in spite of the violent
opposition of the Kybbs. The Shozides have to mourn only a few
deaths, but the main computers of the station are cracked. Exactly
the information they are looking for is stored there. However, the
Kybb are attempting to overload a fusion reactor unnoticed, in order
to destroy the station, which would also take along the T-cruisers
floating nearby to their doom. Rorkhete alone manages to catch onto
this plan just in time. On his own, he slows down the Kybbs long
enough for reinforcements to arrive. He is badly wounded in the
process, but lives and because of this heroic deed is now a full and
respected member of the Death Group.

Even as the three T-cruisers try to make a getaway, twenty cylinder
discs of the Kybb appear. While the T-cruisers would be able to deal
with this menace, unfortunately the massive amounts of energy being
released attract the attention of the two Hyperdimos rumored to be
in the area to the ships. One of the huge beings rushes at the
cylinder discs, while the second takes a direct course on the
ELEBATO, which cannot avoid it and is radiated into hyperspace. When
the two other T-cruisers arrive back on Gray Foam, they have to
deliver not only the star map, which is important for the war, but
also the sad news: Atlan is presumably dead! The time of death is
given as September 27th, 1332 NGE, 03:08 AM. There is an even more
frightful announcement coming in at the same time: The Kybbs have
destroyed the planet Silhoo, one of Carya Andaxi's shadow
government worlds.

While Perry Rhodan mourns for Atlan, the submarine architects of Gray Foam try to find out how dangerous moto-clone 109, which is floating in solar orbit, still is. It is not ready to cooperate and if robots come close to him, he shoots them. Remo Quotost finds out that 109 taps energy from the psionic net in the same way as the bionic cruisers do. This disconcerting knowledge, though, is used to finally render the moto-clone harmless: They establish a cover of bionic cruiser wings all around it and sucks all its energy out with them. The artificial being, now helpless, is disassembled, minutely examined, reprogrammed and then put back together. Moto-clone 109 now stands on the side of the Alliance of Morality as an offensive battle unit under Zephyda's command.

This success becomes meaningless though, when a fleet of more than two thousand Kybb battleships appear outside Gray Foam's orbit.
Submarine architect Schandor Aquist, Quotosts deputy, is to be thanked for this. He had used the remains of an old radio-relay system distributed about Arphonie to secretly make contact with the Kybbs. He had been of the naive opinion that one just needed to make a peace offer to their opponent. Indeed, he was also ready to deliver all the Shozides and Carya Andaxi to make it clear that Gray Foam is of no more danger for Tagg Kharzani. However, Aquist must soon find out that the Kybbs will not consider sparing Gray Foam at all. Aquist dies in a Surfer transport accident. When the Kybb fleet gets closer, the whole magnitude of Aquist's betrayal becomes clear. He has betrayed the codes for deactivating the land based defense forts to the Kybbs, because their guns will not fire now!

The two hundred available Shozide T-cruisers launch, but they will not be able to hold for long against the far superior force. It is only a question of time, before Gray Foam will fall...

Atlan is not dead. Certainly, the ELEBATO on which he is was radiated by the attack of a Hyperdimo into hyperspace, but it was not destroyed in the process. After a vision, in which Atlan believes to see the Cosmocrat Taurec, the Hyperdimo makes mental contact with the Arkonide. The energy being is by no means an unintelligent animal, but the leader of a people of intelligent beings called the Taphero con Choth. Ishkeyda, as their leader is named, has recognized Atlan's Knight's aura and considers him off limits because the Taphero have had dealings with Cosmocrat servants before and came within an inch of being exterminated by them. To avoid trouble, the ELEBATO has been taken to a gigantic stable hyperspace bubble in which innumerable Taphero stop, and is brought by Ishkeyda to a space station by the name of TIMBADOR where other "victims" of the Hyperdimos live. Power here lies in the hands of the humanoid Xipatio. These furred beings exploit all the other "shipwrecked" races.

They have a special deal with the Taphero. While the Taphero do live in all parts of the galaxy – or better said: in hyperspace – they must visit normal space for the purposes of reproduction. They are sighted so often in Arphonie because this normal space star cluster is in a hypercocoon and therefore to be reached much more easily by them. In addition, the Castle Kherzesch strongly radiates hyper-radiation and serves the Taphero as a kind of beacon. During reproduction the Taphero consider everything that moves in space as a threat. Therefore, they attack all spaceships.

In their energy based bodies the Taphero produce material waste products by which they are immobilized. So that this does not happen, they allow themselves to be "milked" by the living beings on TIMBADOR. An essential component of this waste product is the valuable piezoelectric crystal Howalgonium. And this is where here the Xipatio come into the game: They force the "shipwrecked" races to do the work, but never go close to the Taphero themselves, because the radiation of the waste product is extreme toxic.

Atlan's appearance releases violent disturbances on TIMBADOR, because he recognizes that the metabolic processes of the Taphero have changed because of the raised hyperimpedance. The waste product draws off too much energy from them and, therefore, they suffer from symptoms a deficiency disease. Atlan finds a solution for this problem, which has already accepted life threatening proportions for the Taphero: the energy beings must, as disgusting as it may be for them, digest a part of their eliminations once again…, however, this will suck away the main source of the Xipato's income. This automatically makes Atlan their enemy.

At the same time, the suppressed workers attempt a revolt, after Atlan has guaranteed them his support. With the help of fighters from the Shozide Iron death group, the Xipatio and their cyborg thugs are defeated. But most of the Xipatio escape, because of what nobody knew: There are some transmitters on the station with which one can reach normal space! In this way the Xipatio could take their harvest of Howalgonium with them also. However, with their flight the Xipatio seem to have all the transmitters unusable. Therefore Atlan is stuck on TIMBADOR.

Luckily, there is still the grateful Taphero con Choths. Ishkeyda is not only ready to bring the ELEBATO back to normal space, but also guarantees that the Hyperdimos will attack no more ships of the Alliance of Morality any more, but still go after all Kybb units. In addition, Ishkeyda gives Atlan a piece of specially prepared Howalgonium. If he destroys this object, all the Taphero feel it. In this Atlan can call them for help when he needs them.

An enormous fleet of cylinder discs and other heavy units of the Kybb has gathered above Carya Andaxi's world Gray Foam. Perry Rhodan certainly finds the fact that no Kybb-Titans emerge to be peculiar, but it gives no occasion for hope, because most of the T- cruisers that the Alliance of Morality disposes of are manned only inadequately and would not be able to perform resistance to the Kybb fleet for long. It is all the more strange to Rhodan that the powerful fleet has not already attacked. The enemy seems to anticipate that Carya Andaxi still has a trump up her sleeve. In fact, the Protector is busy opening ancient depots that are on the sea bottom. In one of them is hidden Carya Andaxi's Protector-Bearer spaceship. This cylindrical ship coming from the Cosmocrat's shipyards represents, on account of its size and superior armament, a power factor not to be underestimated, although it is, like all other spaceships, being affected by the raised hyperimpedance. In another hangar on the bottom of the sea is an enormous hangar in which thousands of bionic cruisers are parked. At present, unfortunately, there are no Motana crews available for them - besides, Carya Andaxi believes that these ships are meant for the journey to the land Ahandaba.

However, in the hangar there are also innumerable "Integrators".
These beings, for which there is a special workplace found in every bionic cruiser, are miniature editions of moto-clones. According to Carya Andaxi the efficiency of a bionic cruiser is raised by ninety- five percent with the use of one, i.e. only with an Integrator can such a ship reach its true performance potential. Zephyda takes some of these artificial creatures, but she warns Carya Andaxi: the Integrators were developed from the Kybb constructs and in earlier times the Kybbs could bring every Integrator under their control - if they could still do this today, they could take over practically every bionic cruiser in which an Integrator is used. One can only hope that the Kybbs are not still able to do this today.

The commander of the Kybb fleet above Gray Foam is a Prim-director Deitz Duarto, a Kybb from the Rodish, a race that is becoming extinct. He controls his subordinates, while he hides his exterior behind a distortion field and a holographic mask. An exoskeleton and other technical aids make him a very powerful being in the eyes of his subordinates. In reality the Rodish have degenerated physically, in favor of the development of their mental abilities. Duarto waits to give the attack order until the fleet is complete, because Tagg Kharzani has forbidden the application of Kybb-Titans – The fallen protector fears that Carya Andaxi could be in the possession of a special Anti-Titan weapon. Certainly, the Protector knows that such a weapon does actually exist, but her Bearer is not equipped with it and she does not know what it actually is.

When the Kybb finally attack, the SWORD can show what it is capable of with an Integrator aboard. All the systems, Sources and the Deathbringer work with extremely increased efficiency and power:
the SWORD destroys as many Kybb unities as all theT-cruisers put together. Because the defense forts bound to the ground on Gray Foam can be reactivated just in time, the advance of the Kybb is brought to a standstill for a while. Nevertheless, it comes to heavy devastation on the planet. The submarine architects are not able to handle the Protector-Bearer properly. Certainly, the ship starts, but cannot be brought under control and is of no help in the space battle. When the third attack wave of the Kybb threatens to break out, the ELEBATO suddenly emerges. Atlan's T-cruiser, thought destroyed, does not return alone: tens of thousands of Hyperdimos follow him and arrange a slaughter among the Kybb ships. However, they also radiate the Protector-Bearer into hyperspace – luckily, Carya Andaxi was not aboard.

The remaining ships of the Kybb withdraw, but it is a Pyrrhic victory for the defenders: four fifths of the T-cruisers were destroyed, the Protector-Bearer is lost and most of the ground defense forts have been destroyed. The Hyperdimos still guard the planet, but when Arphonie falls back into normal space, the Taphero con Choth will have to say goodbye. Nevertheless: Perry Rhodan, Atlan and Zephyda can celebrate a cheerful reunion and in response to a question, moto-clone 109 declares that it has extensive information about Castle Kherzesch and Tagg Kharzani …

Waiting for news on the attack on Gray Foam, the fallen Protector Tagg Kharzani ponders the past…

In the time before the Blood Night of Barinx, when Tagg Kharzani had not yet gone completely to ruin in insanity, a morbid craving for recognition and envy already poisoned his relationship with the other Protectors. He is of the opinion that they refused him the recognition entitled to him, and he therefore begins to produce a huge monument for himself: A huge castle complex of glorious palaces and other wondrous construction projects on the planet Kherzesch.
With time, Kharzani who is a mortal being, develops an overpowering fear of death and with it a mania to pursue immortality, in contrast to the other Protectors. Indeed, his aging process ends up strongly slowed down by Enkrine, an intelligent symbiont which lays down like a second skin around Kharzani's body. However, this is not enough for Kharzani. In addition, he grows tired of the Symbiont because of its constant stream of moralizing comments. As one component of his castle complex, Kharzani has a Stellar Hospital set up, where the best doctors in Arphonie (kidnapped by Kharzani's henchmen) work for the single purpose of keeping Kharzani healthy. A kind of royal court is also established there, because Kharzani thirsts for accolades. Twelve powerful Kybbs from the sub-species of the Rodish are set up to be his eternal companions and deputies.

Kharzani has always felt a special mistrust and even hatred for Carya Andaxi, who continues to goad him on these sensations, when she makes Gray Foam, a planet in the direct vicinity of Kherzesch, her domicile. In Kharzani's mind, it is clear that Andaxi wants to keep an eye on him from there and one day take from him everything that he has built on Kherzesch. After the disastrous battle against STROWWAN'S servant races, Kharzani is invited to Parrakh, Gon-Orbohn's former residence by the entity which had arisen from the merging of Gon-Orbhon and the Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar. Gon-Orbhon offers guaranteed immortality to him by allowing Kharzani to move into the Nocturnen obelisk, if he first stands by Gon-Orbohn against the Protectors. However, this did not come to be, because ES ends the conflict by the exile of all the Protector's systems into hypercocoons – unfortunately, Kharzani is in Jamondi at that time, and cannot reach his castle in time. With the other Protectors, he eventually begins work on Project DISTANCE TRAIL, because even his Bearer gets destroyed with an attempt to break through the hypercocoon.

Nevertheless, Kharzani does not want to do without absolute power in Jamondi, which is all that can provide the feeling of security for him. Therefore, with his Kybb races, he leads the final blow against the Protectors and destroys the Order during the Blood Night of Barinx. Later, he discovers that he cannot attain immortality in the dead Nocturnen obelisk Antallin, which died in a crash landing on Baikhal Cain, but that it is possible to gain some life-extending power from the grounds of it: The foam opal mined from it can be processed into opal bricks. The more of this substance he stacks around himself in the Kybb-Titan which serves him as a domicile, the more his aging slows down, until it is practically not measurable any more. After the DISTANCE TRAIL starts up, Kharzani returns to his castle again, and the opal bricks are transported there. Only Carya Andaxis, who was at this time creating her shadow government and the Hyperdimos cause Kharzani headaches in his pursuit for immortality. He creates a personal body guard, the dark policemen, and installs a cloud of dust around the Kher system made from eight crushed planets, which he calls the "Kher diamond" on account of its percentage of hypercrystal dust and prevents any detection from outside.

Then, however, the raised hyperimpedance strikes. The opal bricks lose their effect, and new ones can no longer be brought after the breakdown of the DISTANCE TRAIL. Kharzani then has to depend upon his symbiont Enkrine again. Nevertheless, the fallen Protector does not give up, but begins the re-equipment of everything to technologies which are capable of being used with the new physical conditions. He takes new hope from the thought that the hypercocoons will dissolve soon, so that he can reach the planet Parrakh - and with it immortality inside Satrugar. He is also again being influenced indiscernibly by the splinter of the Nocturnen obelisk that he had received from Gon-Orbhon during his visit to Parrakh.
Then a poison attack is made on him, which he ascribes to his twelve Prim-directors. He decides to sterilize the whole planet Kherzesch of its whole population, but is talked out of it by Enkrine, which threatens to kill itself, and thereby doom Kharzani to death himself. Instead, Kharzani ends up killing only the twelve Prim- directors.

Back in the present, Tagg Kharzani receives the news from Deitz Duarto that the battle for Gray Foam has led to a defeat for the Kybbs. In addition, his most important weapon manufacturing planet has fallen from the hypercooon. What to do next?

The battle around Gray Foam is finished for now and both sides have innumerable deaths to mourn. Lyressea has the two potential Protectors, Perry and Atlan, given an initial examination by the Paragon Cross for their suitability. A consecration is not possible at the moment, because the other Sentries are not present. Atlan is tested for about half an hour by the consciousness fragment of ES, while Rhodan takes one and a half hours. The results come out positively for the two former Knights of the Depth, but there is still another problem. The Paragon Cross tells them that it is not able to modify the auras of the two Galactics without most likely killing the bearer.

The Medial Sentry is horrified, but Perry awards her courage by telling her that he wants to attempt it when they get back anyway.
As he puts it, there is always hope.

Two days later, the cylinder disk INTUUL is flying in stealth mode near the Demyrtle system to check out the battlefield.

Suddenly the Kybb-ship, under the command of One-Plan Binne Mandel, picks up an emergency call. At first the Kybb-Giraxx wants to ignore the call, but it is an emergency call with a high ranking code, from a moto-clone. The One-Plan cannot ignore this emergency call.

Moto-clone 109 is bringing in an important prisoner; it is Lyressea.
It tolerates no postponements and wants to be brought directly into the Kher system. The One-Plan is in a dilemma, for naturally he cannot contradict a moto-clone's order, but he cannot ignore his actual orders to check the battle zone. But 109 will tolerate no opposition, so the INTUUL takes course for the Kher diamond. Using its override code, the moto-clone gets the spaceship to Kherzesch.

As the cylinder disk makes its landing approach to Kherzesch, 109 calls the commander into the cell of its prisoner. When it arrives there, the moto-clone kills the One-Plan. Lyressea takes on Binne Mandel's form using her ability of Para-modulation and leaves the ship. She uses a glider to put distance between herself and the spaceship, because the next part of their plan involves 109 releasing a moto-shock and then destroying the ship. It goes according to plan, and the Medial Sentry manages to get into the old storage hall in order to find shelter before her energy leaves her and she changes back.

The moto-clone manipulates the energy generators of the ship and leaves it, leaving the crew dead from fear and fright generated by the moto-shock. Then it proceeds to the storage hall that the Sentry went to. The hall was affected by the powerful explosion of the ship, partially falling in and beginning to burn. However, the unconscious Lyressea was only lightly hurt by falling debris.

Melting girders must be moved out of the way so that they can get to an underground anti-grav shaft that goes further down. The moto- clone does this, but loses some of its body substance and much of its energy. The pair of very different companions manages to get into the shaft, but then need to take a break.

On the SWORD they prepare for takeoff. Zephyda and Perry Rhodan will fly with the bionic cruiser to the Kher system to observe whether the Sentry and moto-clone have had success. Atlan will stay behind on Gray Foam to wait with the Hyperdimos for the news of success and then join the others in the attack.

On Kherzesch the strange companions struggle their way forward through the seemingly endless tunnels of Castle Kherzesch. As expected the dark policemen have taken up their pursuit. Julcen, the Gagaothe and one of the ten leading dark policemen, is the one who has ordered the search. It is clear that a moto-clone is involved and has not been acting alone, but is still unclear which moto-clone it is. Therefore, all the moto-clones on Kherzesch are ordered to submit themselves to an examination.

109 informs Lyressea that it can probably not properly replace its loss of substance any longer and that it will die as its backup systems slowly fail. A positive side effect of this is that 109 thereby begins to have something like feelings, because it cannot just calculate for everything that will happen any more, but is forced to estimate and simplify its judgment processes.

At this point, Lyressea reveals their true target to 109: It is not the Palace of the Living, but SCREEN-ZERO, the control center of the SCREEN-forts. The moto-clone accepts it emotionlessly, as it has not had time to assimilate its new capability for feeling yet.

The dark policemen do their homework, and it turns out that only three moto-clones could be the traitor. The most likely candidate is 109. And the real target of the attack is fixed for the paranoid guards. They have fallen for Lyressea's plan and are sure that it must be the Stellar Hospital. Therefore they shift practically all their troops there.

The Sentry and the moto-clone have a heart to heart talk as they are on the move. She expresses her hatred towards it, because of its acts, but it gives her something to think about also. It would like to understand why one side is the good are and the others the bad people. The climax of their moral conversation is a dance, the Flagore, on the airy heights of the statue of Tagg Kharzani.

The SWORD reaches the Kher system and waits.

The dark policemen get a computer virus from Tagg Kharzani that is supposed to turn 109 back to their side. The attempt fails only because the infected backup system fails before the virus can spread to the other nodes. 109 recognizes what happened and sets up protection against it happening again. It is a heavy setback for Julcen and luck for the Alliance.

The two intruders manage to penetrate into SCREEN-ZERO, once again by having 109 take out the crew by a moto-shock while Lyressea waits out of distance. Using the machinery there they make new entrance lanes appear in the protecting layer of dust around the Kher system.
As its time runs out, 109 sends away the Sentry. She tries to change its mind, but the moto-clone has accomplished all it could. It tells her that it had decided to work for the Lyressea because she could find it in her to finally forgive him and a Kybb would never have been able to!

While Lyressea becomes a Kybb-Giraxx by means of a Para-modulation and can flee the station, moto-clone 109 blows up SCREEN-ZERO, many other moto-clones, two leaders of the dark policemen and itself.

Beyond the system the SWORD recognizes what is happening and calls
the fleet under the command of Atlan. The attack on the Kher system
is about to start.

After the death of the Moto-clone 109, Lyressea is in the park at the foot of Tagg Kharzani's statue. Two Kybb Giraxxs discover her there, and it comes to a fight. It ends as Lyressea notices that a disintegrator curtain is beginning to dissolve the trees and the soil of the park and she maneuvers the combatants into it. The curtain finishes its job and as it disappears, Lyressea discovers that in front of the statue there is now a bare, round surface of approximately one and a half kilometers of diameter. The top of the surface is several meters under the former park's ground level and is the cover of an enormous, underground facility. It must be the area, to which the Moto-clone had not had access. Suddenly the cover opens.

In the meantime on the SWORD, closes to the barrier of the Kher Diamond. Zephyda and Perry Rhodan speak about the forthcoming attack. The ELEBATO materializes and with it are several thousand Hyperdimos.

Tagg Kharzani, again becomes agitated, feeling cornered. He is afraid. It is fear of his own death and fear of the Hyperdimos, which have collected outside the system. Meanwhile ever more of the foam opal bricks are becoming "spoiled" and Kharzani turns to the fragment of Satrugar. It glows and new life flows into Kharzani.

Some spaceships scramble in the proximity of the park where Lyressea is. The cavity of the underground facility reveals a cylinder disc ship. The ship has to belong to Tagg Kharzani personally and the Medial Sentry believes that it is meant as an escape ship. It makes her concerns that Kharzani could still triumph in the end...

On board the SWORD Perry and Zephyda are concerned because the newest space quakes increase in intensity, signaling the imminent fall of the hypercocoon into normal space. Zephyda abruptly cramps, but nothing unusual is to be determined outside the ship. At this point the Kybbs are flying suicidal maneuvers with some of their ships, in order to find a weak point in the lines of the Alliance of Morality, but they are quickly eliminated by the Hyperdimos.

In Castle Kherzesch Kharzani dreams in the meantime about the immortality, which Satrugar and Gor-Orbohn assured him of, when it is communicated to him that fifty white cruisers are approaching the planet. He instructs the launching of the Kybb-RAMS. In his mind, a thought emerges: "I will protect you, Tagg Kharzani". He identifies this thought as a message from Gon Orbhon. He orders his escape ship made ready to be launched.

The alarm is given in the Metropolis at Court. The ground shakes and Lyressea figures that the cylinder disc had to have started, but the hurricane which would have thereby had to be provoked do not come. The single explanation: Kherzesch is falling back from the cocoon into normal space. Meanwhile the sun Kher has already fallen back. When Lyressea looks upwards, she discovers a white cruiser which approaches the planet in a daredevil maneuver. She believes that it is the ELEBATO. The cruiser shoots a Paramag torpedo, which was likely supposed to hit the underground hangar, but was probably deflected and missed its target. When the aftershocks of the shot abate, the cruiser has disappeared, and in its place the sun Kher once again stands in the sky. The Medial Sentry has no hint about whether or not Kherzesch has fallen into normal space.

Lyressea reaches the antigrav-shaft, which she had used previously with Moto-clone 109 in the base of Kharzani's statue. Lyressea joins, in the shadowed form of a Prim-director, a group of Kybb- Trakens which is on their way to their ships. Aboard their KYBB-RAM Lyressea's camouflage becomes spotty, so she must kill the Kybbs.

In space the space quakes get stronger. The hypercocoon is already beginning to dissolve. The first gravity distortions are to be observed, and the first solar systems disappear. Meanwhile, the gaps in the Kher diamond are big enough for the Hyperdimos to pass through.

Lyressea brings the two dead Kybbs from the ship and gathers her strength in the cabin of the ship. Chaos breaks out n the whole planet and she begins to feel a little strange, frightened. She must leave Kherzesch as fast as possible, so she prepares the ship for takeoff. However, she does not succeed in opening the hangar gates, so she must wait. The lugubrious, mental force grows and continues to make her concerned. It becomes much harder for her to concentrate.

The SWORD falls back in the normal space between the exterior planets of the system. Hundreds of cylinder discs and Battle Traponders, as well sixty-eight Kybb-Titans are located in the system. It falls to the Hyperdimos to take care of the mobile units of the Kybbs, while the white cruisers are to attack the planet.

Zephyda brings the SWORD closer to the planet Kherzesch while small, agile ships as well as honeycomb ships launch.

Tagg Kharzani, evidently standing more and more under the influence of Gon-Orbhon, discovers in a warehouse of full spoiled opal bricks that the bricks have melted, and are burning coldly.

Enkrine points out to Kharzani the cries which arose from the "dying" bricks. The cries of slowly dying life. He recognizes that the creeping release of the Psionic energy which had kept alive him so long would soon destroy the palace in a spontaneous explosion, and him with it, provided that he did not disappear as quickly as possible. The freed Psi-radiation created its own reality, placing Kharzani in the Montana's past. He ventures into a tunnel. He slips and falls into the depth. He lands back in the corridor, in his own reality. The whole palace is blazing in cold fire.

The SWORD is attacked by the Kybb units and approaches the planet.
They discover the palace as well as the hangar shaft. Suddenly a cry goes through the crew: a Hyperdimo has died! Perry speaks to Atlan, and the Arkonide reports that a Kybb-Titan has shot two Hyperdimos.

In the Kybb-RAM Lyressea observes how a gate opens above her, which brings to light only a shiny void. She cannot control the ship yet, and the ship suddenly gives maximum thrust. The ship shoots into the sky above Kherzesch and Lyressea locates the Hyperdimos. The ship does not react to her inputs and attacks a white cruiser, which is almost destroyed. At last, she succeeds in tearing the ship off its course. Now it obeys her commands. She destroys two KYBB-RAMS. She discovers the SWORD, which disappears immediately again, and then a battle Traponder takes course for Lyressea. With a short hyperlight stage she escapes and dives back into normal space in the hypercocoon far from the nearest ships. Then some Hyperdimos emerge with a white cruiser which draws her in by means of a tractor ray. Then the surroundings changed.

Kharzani has left the planet. The Kybb in the bridge of his escape ship note the deaths of the two Hyperdimos. Kharzani observes the death of one of the two, and soon afterwards his ship is attacked, but they manage to continue their journey to the Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar. He longs for the eternal life, but is constantly warned by Enkrine about this. In a fit of rage he tears off Enkirne and tramples the scraps. Then he becomes quiet, and the fear disappears more and more.

Meanwhile the SWORD takes course on Kherzesch, while a so-called ditch, an energy depression in the space time structure limits the freedom of movement of the Hyperdimos hunted by Titans. The cylinder disc has disappeared from its hangar and Perry Rhodan orders all the energy manifestations recorded, for he has recognized that it must be foam opal stored in Kherzesch. Shortly after, the opal bricks in the tower are all destroyed. The Kybb-Titans and the Hyperdimos leave the areas within the cloud of dust of the Kher Diamond.

Zephyda waits for a beacon signal from 109 and Lyressea, while the tower is completely destroyed and a Psi-Storm develops. The SWORD and the remaining white cruisers flee from the system.

Meanwhile, Lyressea's KYBB-RAM is already almost anchored in the ELEBATO when Atlan announces himself. After a short time his picture disappears and almost all the controls of the ship are going dark. Shortly after the docking maneuver is concluded and Atlan and Lyressea are making their way to the bridge when the gravity changes. When the surroundings return to normal, General Traver informs everyone that they had lost a whole hour and that all the Kyb-Titans have left the system. He gives the order to go to the planet Kherzesch, but the Sentry explains that an enormous Psi explosion is about to occur on Kherzesch, and that the chances of survival would be very bad in the system. Atlan talks with Perry, while Lyressea breaks down under the Psi-pressure.

Kharzani's escape ship docks inside the Titan-02. The Titans withdraw from the system, and there are only forty-eight of the original sixty-eight. He longs again for Gon-Orbhon, and notes too late that Enkrine was right with its warnings when it said that Gon- Orbhon would control him. The fragment of Satrugar takes control over him. The fragment informs him of coordinates to go to, which he passes onto the Prim-director Deitz Duarto.

The silent message to Kharzani is understood clearly by Lyressea, and recognizes that the broadcasting station is just in the process of leaving the Kher Diamond. Atlan gives her a stimulant and she notes that the ELEBATO is being attacked. She explains to Atlan that the foam opal bricks will destroy everything in its surroundings at the moment in which the planet falls from the cocoon. Suddenly she freezes and Atlan orders an emergency transition.

The SWORD is in a geostationary orbit around Kherzesch. Perry Rhodan thinks about a possible evacuation when Atlan announces himself and informs Perry that the foam opal is about to explode and recommends the quickest retreat possible. The sword accelerates with maximum values and pushes through the Kher Diamond. Space has changed in an alarming way. They locate forty-eight Titans and know that Kharzani is on one of them.

Massive confusion rules on the ELEBATO. After some unknown period the ship falls from hyperspace and races towards Kherzesch.

Evidently the ELEBATO had undertaken a short time journey, because the castle still stood there. Traver orders the ship to attack the hangar in the ground, but Lyressea recognizes that she is - or was - down there herself. But the torpedoes miss their target. Then the ship makes another involuntary time jump again. They come out in Ammandul, but back in the normal universe; the hypercocoon does not exist any more...

The SWORD is stuck in an enormous hyperstorm which accompanies the dissolving of the cocoon. Perry just gets the evaluation of the course vectors of the Titans, before he loses consciousness just like the others in the ship. The Titans are heading for Terra!

Myles Kantor leads a high-quality scientific team which studies,
among other things, the 6-D radiation of the sun from the research
facilities at Vulcan Center on Mercury. Since February 8, 1333
NGE, the jet-ray directed at Sol has been siphoning off between one
hundred to one thousand times as much 6-D energy packets than it
had previously. Therefore, Kantor orders all further research in
Vulcan Center to focus upon on the subject of ARCHETIM. It is
clear to him that there is a danger for all mankind at hand.

His work is hindered by new attacks of the "Takvorianismus" during
which his perception of time is slowed down many times (the phenomenon
had not appeared since he had received his cell activator). And the
team in Vulcan Center no longer runs as smoothly as it had, since
the arrival of the eccentric, young, high frequency physicist Inshanin (requested by Kantor), because he and the attractive young woman (who
is convinced of her own importance), grate on one another from the
moment they meet. He feels her attitude is a threat to his authority,
and she feels (not unjustly) her skills are not being fully utilized
by him.

Kantor and his team penetrate with the DISCOVERER-class ship
MUNGO PARK into the lower boundary layer of the sun's corona. They
discover a foreign mass embedded in the photosphere, but can approach
it only for a short time, before the protection screens overload.
Kantor assumes that the foreign object has been hidden in the sun
since prehistoric times and has been, in addition, in a hypercocoon
that has now broken down. This could be an explanation why the object
has not been detected until now. With the MUNGO PARK the object can
neither be examined or more closely approached. Therefore, Kantor
places an order for the building of a special "sun diver" to be
designed at the Waringer Academy. He also retrieves Orren Snaussenid
from the small village that has been built near Little Goshun for the Schohaakes. Snaussenid is depressed because like all his comrades, he
does not remember his past and because he cannot endure the collective
dreams, which all the Schohaakes share with each other. Kantor offers
him a place with the sun diver-expedition and the small humanoid
gratefully seizes this chance to learn something about his origin.

With the second advance into the photosphere of the sun, the MUNGO
PARK approaches the unknown object closer. It is in a hyperphysical
cavity about 500 kilometers in diameter. Within the sphere there are
three enormous, knot-shaped objects. This investigation is also cut
short when the protection screens threaten to break down again. Some
time later, the tension between Kantor and Inshanin unexpectedly
discharges…in a night of sex.

On March 5, 1333 NGE, Kantor receives the finished sun diver
INTRALUX. The ship consists of a 940 meter wide, 400 meter deep,
110 meter of high trapezoidal DISCOVERER insertion module, has a
self-sufficient airworthy corvette as a core cell, and consists
mainly of highly efficient engines, energy producers and protection
screen projectors. The next day MUNGO PARK transports the INTRALUX
to the border of the photosphere, where it flies on independently.
Because of the high risk, the crew consists of only eight people,
Myles Kantor, Inshanin, Attaca Meganon and Orren Snaussenid among them.

When the INTRALUX approaches the hyperphysical cavity, it turns out
that there is probably in reality only one of the twenty five
kilometer wide knot-like objects there. The optical impression
of the triptych appears from a phase displacement over several
existence levels. The INTRALUX ends up in the gravest danger when an
enormous prominence approaches it. Inshanin has the idea to have the
Schohaakes take up radio communication with the knot station. At
the last second, when one crew member has already died, somebody on
the station actually seems to hear Orren's desperate cries for
help: an energy tube extends from the knot shaped object, wraps
around the INTRALUX and keeps it from destruction.

Now the object can be more carefully studied. The knot construct
seems to consist of a gold material, embedded in thirty-five
kilometer wide spheres of the same, but less thick, substance. The
surface of the station is in constant movement, and new ornaments
and reliefs constantly appear in it. The INTRALUX is pulled into the
station by a tractor ray. The inside looks like a kind of museum, a
gorgeously decorated exhibition room. Two small statues flank a hall
that leads further inside the station. To Snaussenid's delight
these sculptures represent beings of his race…

Carlosch Imberlock comes to Homer G. Adams with an unusual demand.
Since the Gon Orbhon sect is continuing to grow, it needs space for the building of a large meeting place, in which all of the Orbhon followers can meet. There is no such building site of this size in all of Terrania, but Imberlock has already found an alternative, which he considers appropriate: Mount Vesuvius! Adam consents to it because he hopes that peace will finally return to Terrania, if the Orbhon followers have left the city. Also, with all the followers in one place, it will be easier to keep an eye on them.

However, there is already a tenant on Vesuivus: Don Miguele Carreras, the head of the new Camorra of Naples. Carreras came to be the head of this criminal clan with the help of the Galactic Guardians and is in the middle of a struggle for power with another clan. It comes to light that there is an alliance between Imberlock and this other clan. The lease for Vesuvius is handed over to the Orbhon followers by the government of Terra, and soon large scale construction begins, which change the face of the Vesuvius. In addition the Temple of Gradual Decline in Terrania is taken apart and put back together on the slopes of the volcano.

Mondra Diamond, who is on the scene on Admas' order for the TLD, cannot do much more than observe all this. The situation for Barto Datone, a former Camorrista and tourist guide on Vesuvius is very bad. He loses his guide job and is ground beneath the wheels of the Cammora chief, when he creates a protest movement for Don Carreras against the Orbhon followers. It turns out that Carreras was setting him up as a fall guy to prove to Imberlock that he has the whole city under his control, not the rival clan. He frames Barto with forgery of a document that claims the work on Vesuvius will make it erupt and thereby dirties the image of the protestors. At the end, Barto stands there as a traitor to the homeland and in Naples and the nearby environs, they now receive the Orbhon followers with open arms...

On February 8, 1333 NGE Gon-Orbhon's Kybb-Titan has attached itself to the jet ray connected with Sol and is flying directly to the Earth. Aboard are also Reginald Bull, Gucky and Icho Tolot.

Certainly, they are not yet subjugated by the mental influence of Gon-Orbhon, but have been trapped in an escape proof transparent container, which also blocks Gucky's powers. Two moto-clones are also guarding the container. When the Kybb-Titan appears four weeks later in the Rosy Dawn sector, he is registered by one of the outer relays of the new hyperradio relay, and the message is passed on immediately to the Earth. Homer G. Adams alerts the fleet and declares a system alarm, because the course of the Kybb-Titan is clear. The Aarus recognize the signs of the time and leave the Sol system. The Orbhon supporters also prepare for the arrival of their "god". Thousands of them flow out onto Vesuvius where a hole has been dug into the mountain slope that is double the size of the Temple of the Gradual Decline.

The Arphonie star cluster materializes on March 12, 1333 NGE Terrania-standard time in normal space, which corresponds to the Arphonie time October 6, 1332 NGE. Rhodan and Atlan have lost a good five months. While Atlan and Zephyda stay with the remainders of the Shozide fleet, in order to fly to Gray Foam to protect the Paragon Cross and Carya Andaxi (no trace is to be seen of the Hyperdimos since the return fall of the star cluster), Rhodan leaves with General Travers and the ELEBATO for Terra to warn the people about Tagg Kharzani and his forty-eight Kybb-Titans that are already on the way to the Sol system. The ELEBATO is delayed by the chaos in the star reef in the Antares sector and only arrives near the Sol system when there are already approximately sixty-eight thousand units of the LFT fleets (a full half of them though, are not yet fully operational – the raised hyperimpedance did a lot of
damage) and the Kybb-Titans are facing off.

On March 13, 1333 NGE Gon-Orbhon makes radio contact with Adams and requires the delivery of the Talan system. As if on command, Tagg Kharzani's forty-eight Kybb-Titans appear to lend backing to his demand. Adams gives the fleet the attack order, but this is not passed on by LAOTSE, the computer of the Solar Residence, because at the same time a radio message has arrived from Perry Rhodan. The Resident has ordered the retreat of the whole fleet, because he knows the gigantic superiority of the Kybb-Titans. Therefore 'Crisis Case Carthage' is announced for the second time in the history of the LFT: Adams announces the surrender and the Earth is prepared for the assumption of power by a hostile power. Gon- Orbhon declares Talan – the Earth – his new homeland and sinks the gigantic fragment of the Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar into the hole near the Temple of the Gradual Decline. Mondra Diamond and Adams' new security robot Scorchy (based on the body and personality of Sotho Tal Ker and Skorsh) are in the crowds around Vesuvius.

Carlosch Imberlock now clearly has the upper hand. His "god" has arrived as prophesized and is satisfied with the choice of the site for his domicile. Homer G. Adams, however, completely correctly recognizes that mankind is completely unimportant for Gon-Orbhon – all that matters to the former protector is the sun or what hides itself inside of Sol. Now all the hopes of mankind are focused upon the sun diver-expedition, but till present there is still no news from the INTRALUX…

In the triptych stations which are accommodated on the border between the photosphere and the lower convection zone of the sun there are many thousands of "fossilized" Schohaakes. The two supposed statues which flank the hall of the hangar in which the badly damaged INTRALUX stands were also living Schohaakes. These people had access to a technology to conserve the bodies of living beings for eternity. Those so treated, called incarnations, are not truly dead, and if a person of the same race touches them, he experiences their life history as if he has experienced it himself.

Anyone of another race experiences nothing. Orren Snaussenid learns all this when he touches one of the two incarnations in the hangar.

The memories of the twenty million years ago "fossilized" Schohaaken Druben Eskuri are transmitted to him, and Snaussenid lives through these recollections as if they were his own, and lives through the death of ARCHETIM:

Until approximately twenty million years ago ARCHETIM was the ruling superintelligence in the current thickness concentration of ES, and the Schohaaked were its preferred people. ARCHETIM had its seat of power in the Milky Way, which had carried the name Phariske-Erigon at that time. ARCHETIM had ended an era of wars and pacified the numerous races fighting n the galaxy, when it took the aggressiveness away from them. Since that time all the people of the galaxy were always filled by the peaceful, warm presence of ARCHETIM. ARCHETIM'S residence was on the planet Oaghonyr in the Milky Way's center. Druben Eskuri had been appointed there as a chronicler. His father, whom he had not known until that point, and whom was an influential personality on Oaghonyr had set him up for it. The superintelligence was not present at this time.
ARCHETIM'S CRECHE on Oaghonyr was empty. ARCHETIM had already left a long time ago with other superintelligences to an unknown area of the cosmos to introduce the Retroversion of a Negasphere there, i.e. to ensure that a transmission of information could take place by cosmic messengers that this area of the chaos again.

The return of ARCHETIM from this mission still took place during Druben Eskuri's lifetime. However, the superintelligence was very much weakened, or said more exactly: ARCHETIM had fought so hard that it was dying. It had clearly lost the biggest part of its mental substance with the successful completion of the Retroversion.

After ARCHETIM'S death, which threw the whole thickness concentration into despair, its "corpse" was escorted by an enormous spaceship procession to a sun, insignificant at that time -Sol.

ARCHETIM had picked Sol for this purpose earlier. The inside of the sun became the grave for the psi-material body of the superintelligence. Thousands of incarnations – among them Druben Eskuri and his longtime companion – were brought to the observation stations established by the Schohaakes, to bear witness to ARCHETIM for eternity.

Orren Snaussenid awakens and recounts all this information to his companions. They realize that they must find a way to penetrate deeper into the station to try and gain more information from the other incarnations…

The final fall of the star ocean of Jamondi and the
Arphonie star cluster back into normal space leads to
catastrophic conditions: Whole solar systems are
destroyed within both areas by hyperstorms and space
quakes. The remaining foam opal of the Holy Mountain
of Baikhal Cain explodes and sweeps the entire system
of the sun Cain out of exitence. In the surrounding
field of ten light hours not even rubble remains, and
six Kybb Titans also were destroyed. That is the end
of the last Motanas remaining on Baikhal Cain -
however it is not the end of the approximately one
hundred thousand Schota Magathes, which lived on the
planet. They had been warned by an increasing psychic
emission from the foam opal that tormented tem and
under the leadership of the young Patriarch Bort
Leytmark saved themselves by a collective
teleportation to the planet Ios V. A little later
Patriarch Dan Errithi also arrives there with his
family - the message of the arrival of the Schota
Magathes had spread quickly. Dan Errithi brings a
message from the Autonomous Gray: All the independent
races of the star ocean are to stand together in the
fight against the Kybbs. The highest of all the Schota
Magathe, the old Patriarch Goth Dungear, objects to
this. He continues to hold to the doctrine of
noninterference and invisibility. It comes to a
struggle for power between him and Bort Leytmark,
which the younger Patriarch manages to win.

Meanwhile the Steel Sentry Atjaa endeavors to make
operational the bionic cruisers of the eight thousand
unit strong fleet of the Deathbringers, which were
hidden for the last twelve thousand years in the
detection protection of the sun Kor. He is however
missing suitable recruits to crew them. Therefore one
hundred planets, on which according to the star
catalog of the Traveling Besch there are Motanas to be
found, are released from the Kybbs’ control.
Afterwards the inflow of freed people, who are hardly
to be held back in their enthusiasm and who let
themselves be trained in an amazingly short time as
capable cruiser crews and Deathbringers, is quickly
secured. Two thousand five hundred Deathbringer ships
can be taken into service by March 1333 NGE. The Kybbs
behave strangely passive during this time, seeming to
concentrate all their energy on adapting their fleets
to the increased hyperimpedance.

Atlan and Zephyda meanwhile meet with Julian Tifflor
at Hayok. Pieces of news are exchanged, and the
assumption of the Earth by Gon Orbhon is discussed.
Then the SWORD flies to Tom Karthay and unloads eleven
Integrators they had brought along from Gray Foam,
which are installed immediately in just as many bionic
cruisers. Afterwards it is off to Ios V, as Dan
Errithi brought the message of the exile of the
Oracles. Zephyda and the six Sentries ask Bort
Leytmark to join the Alliance of Morality and place
his people’s teleportation capabilities in service to
the Alliance as needed. They offer a new homeland to
the Schota Magathes: Tan Jamondi II, the location of
the Cathedral Rogan! Gradually the first Schota
Magathe families teleport there, unnoticed by the Kybb
armed forces, which still guard the planet. The
Paragon Cross also returns to Tan Jamondi II, and the
cathedral is put back into use. All of this is done
under the eyes of the enemy, but the Kybbs do not
react at first. On March 26, 1333 NGE after a
radiogram arrives, which the Motanas cannot decode,
all the Kybb Titans that were still in orbit around
the planet fly off in the direction of Terra…

When Zephyda pursues some ships of the Kybb Cranar, which destroyed the ELGEDORN of the Traveling Besch Egh Larini, they coincidentally discover the planet Futhorn, on which after the Blood Night of Barinx hundreds of thousands of bionic cruisers were scrapped. The shock released by the discovery that the biotronic computers of the ships are still alive, but driven completely insane, makes Zephydas hatred for the Kybbs grow still stronger.

After this episode the storming of the Tan Jamondi system is prepared. Now that the Kybb-Titans have left the system, the Alliance of Morality wants to conquer back the location of the Rogan cathedral. All the operational bionic cruisers are pulled together for the attack, and Atlan calls in reinforcements from Hayok consisting of Julian Tifflor with the PRAETORIA and 5,000 LFT-BOXES. The problem is that the Kyber-Neutros are still in the system. Zephyda assumes that an unknown number of these uncanny weapons must be in the ships that guard the system. This threat must be neutralized before the attack.

This task is given to Atlan, Lyressea and the Shozide Deathgroup under Rorkhete's lcommand. They are to determine the locations of the Kyber-Neutros. Keg Dellogun's family teleports itself with the commando group to the TRAIL COURT 01, since the military center of the Kybbs is there. They are eventually discovered, and Atlan is even taken into custody, but Lyressea uses her ability to shape change to the point of total exhaustion and is able to retrieve both the Arkonide and the data on the Kyber-Neutros.

Now the attack can begin. The LFT-BOXES take care of the 298 Kyber- Neutro units because they are not affected by them, and then the bionic cruisers organize a merry skeet shoot with the barely armed Kybb ships. However, Zephyda cannot bring herself to be so pleased about their victory. The more ships of the Kybb that are destroyed, the more violently her conscience gnaws at her. Finally she understands that with her ruthlessness, she is placing herself on the same level as her enemies. Therefore she prevents the total destruction of the Kybbs and accepts the surrender of the Prim- Director of TRAIL COURT 01.

The Alliance of Morality achieved victory - but this success would be futile, if even only one Kybb-Titan should return. Thus the legendary anti-Titan weapon must be found. From the fact that Tagg Kharzani has such great fear of such a weapon, Zephyda draws the conclusion that he must know how it works. That means that Kharzani must have possessed at least one such weapon. Perhaps it is hidden on Tan Jamondi II, where even the Kybb-Traken take a wide curve around this planet?

Zephyda proves that she understood the consequences of the fall back of Jamondi into normal space: The star ocean is not an "island" anymore. She therefore sends two bionic cruisers and the Sentry Hytath to support the RICHARD BURTON in the Greater Magellanic Cloud. She also sends the Sentries Metondre, Eithani and Atjaa are sent to examine the other star clusters that may have fallen back into the normal space. Further bionic cruisers are commanded to go to the Wega system – a call for help has arrived from Perry Rhodan, who is there...

Perry Rhodan moves the complete Terran home fleet to the Wega system because he hopes for the support of the Ferrones living there.
Certainly, there is a LFT base on Ferrol, but the planet itself is independent and associated only loosely with the League. The leader of the Ferrones, the Thort Kelesh, is far from happy about the presence of the Terrans. He fears that his nightmares will come true and the attention of the Kybbs will be drawn to his small empire.

The public opinion of the Ferrones is characterized by separatist tendencies. Two of his Ministers who even engineer an attack upon Rhodan would rather make a pact with the Kybbs. These are not good prerequisites for the negotiations Rhodan leads with the Thort and the situation gets even worse, as a reconnaissance craft of the Kybbs flies through the Wega system. The presence of the Terran fleet is therefore no longer a secret.

The nerves of the ships crews are understandably raw. Then the TRAJAN, the flagship of the USO, emerges in the Wega system. Monkey and Michael Rhodan, one of Perry's sons, have a gift for Rhodan:
Some dozen of copies of the new dissonance cannon. They are supercharged interval cannons, which were reequipped for KNK mode.

Their weapon ray can be focused in such a way that it pierces even the strongest Paratron screen. A crucial advantage of them is their
range: With five million kilometers it amounts to fivefold that of a transform cannon under the conditions of the now increased hyperimpedance.

Unfortunately extensive changes will have to be made to the LFT ships, so that they can hold the dissonance cannons - and this re- equipment work is possible only in planetary shipyards or PONTOON Tenders. The Thort, however, refuses to approve the stationing of the LFT fleet in Wega. He takes the sudden emergence of the PRAETORIA, ten thousand LFT-BOXES and five hundred Type II DISCOVERERS for the support of Rhodan as a further affront to the Ferrone's sovereignty.

This changes when a Kybb-Titan appears, taking a direct course for Ferrol and cannot be turned even by the powerful DISCOVERER units of the Terrans, their transform cannon fire appearing totally ineffective against the Titan's protection screens. It almost seems as if the Kybb are looking to humiliate the Terrans, because they ignore the Ferrone ships, but shoot dozens of Terran ships.

Even some bionic cruisers sent by Zephyda fall victim to the fire bursts of the Titan, without being able to resist it or doing the Titan any damage first. Not even the coordinated attack waves of the entire fleet supported by the PRAETORIA can impress the Titan. Only as the TRAJAN begins to use its dissonance cannon, is the protection screen of the Titan is weakened - then it explodes in an enormous explosion. All the debris dissolves in an atomic fire. The price for this victory is very high though. Altogether over one thousand Terran ships, including more than three hundred LFT-BOXES and forty- nine DISCOVERERS were destroyed. Even PRAETORIA is damaged: fourteen units of its eastern cross extension were destroyed. It is clear: The fleet could not currently survive against the concerted attack of several Titans at once.

On the good side, the horrific battle leads to a reversal of the Ferrones attitude. They recognized that the opponent is not invincible. The Thort understands that the war is already standing before his doorstep and that it is better not to have to face the threat alone. Therefore he puts the infrastructure of the Wega system officially at Rhodan's disposal. Now the beginning of the installing the dissonance cannons may begin. Time is getting short, because the Kybbs might already be working on finding a way to protect themselves from the Terrans new weapon...

While the crew of the disabled INTRALUX is still worrying about the news from the MUNGO PARK, that forty-nine Kybb-Titans have arrived in the Sol system, the entrance bulkhead to the TRIPTYCHON station unexpectedly opens for Orren Snaussenid. Orren passes through it, and then the bulkhead closes again and remains locked. Orren walks through the station, admiring the magnificent facility and goes past numerous Incarnations. One of them, a black Schohaake, behind which two crossed swords hang on the wall, exercises a strange fascination upon Orren. He touches the dark figure and experiences the fate of Mamor Ir'kham.

Mamor Ir'kham was a field general of the Schohaakes, living in the fifth millennium since the arrival of ARCHETIM in Phariske Erigon.
In this time the superintelligence was already battling in the area of the Negasphere in the galaxy Tare Scharm, but the retroversion had not been introduced yet. During Mamors lifetime terrible fighting still raged in Tare Scharm between the aide races of the Superintelligences and the powers of Chaos. The peace in ARCHETIM'S pacified Phariske Erigon was fragile, and warmongers like Mamor used the long phases ARCHETIM'S absence, in order to pursue their own goals. By proceeding mercilessly against all adversaries and with the help of the symbolic strength of the Twilight Blades - two golden swords from the time before the arrival of the superintelligence – Mamor manages to take control over the whole galaxy as the Dark General, even occupying its capital world Oaghonyr. However, he could not touch ARCHETIMS CRECHE and the Clateaux of the Times.

After the cruel extermination of all his enemies with the exception of some rebels under the leadership of ARCHETIM'S FIST, Mamor's rule was not of long duration. Eventually, strange plant like beings, the Shatterblooms, appeared everywhere as harbingers of the return of ARCHETIM. They affected all intelligent organisms, taking away all their aggressions. After ARCHETIM'S return this influence became absolute. All the battling ended, as the radiant emissions of the superintelligence produced peace and harmony. Even Mamor was subject to this influence, but it broke his mind. As punishment for his hubris, he was conserved as an Incarnation.

Orren only manages to separate from Mamor's Incarnation with great difficulty and smash it with one of the twilight blades, before the terrible visions, which can seem to be transferred permanently from the Incarnation to him, can destroy his spirit.
Then however he understands that not all the visions were due to Mamor's insanity - in reality, some of them were his own memories! He suddenly remembers that he was there in Tare Scharm during ARCHETIM'S fight against the Chaos powers and experienced hell...

For twenty days long Orren wandered through the station, until he reached the control center. A four meter tall gold colored statue of a Schohaake stands there and embraces him. It appears to be in control of the station. Orren takes up contact with it and manages to convince it to consider him and the humans of the INTRALUX as people authorized to use the station. Afterwards, the completely weakened small Schohaake must be medically cared for by the crew of the INTRALUX.

On March 14th, 1333 NGE Carlosch Imberlock officially takes over power on the Earth as Gon-Orbhons deputy, and the Temple of the Gradual Decline is declared the new administrative center of Terra.

The cult of Gon-Orbhon becomes the state religion and the "god"
begins immediately with his world-wide mental influencing of all the important personalities. The First Terran Maurenzi Curtiz also falls victim to this influence. All the state structures gradually become "turned". The faithful disciples of Gon-Orbhon mercilessly smash the stirring resistance of the " Group of Gentle Rebels ", which is just beginning to reform. The first resistance fighters are quickly unmasked – and promptly publicly executed. Since then not
a day passes without executions...

The slopes of Vesuvius are being covered in concrete and altered into a gigantic meeting place for the Orbhon followers. Whole districts are set up inside Naples for the followers from the ground up. Imberlock seems to have recognized that his earlier preaching of the empire of death which will come with the appearance of Gon- Orbhon was not correct. Now he states that the "god" will submit the Terrans to a test. On the 15th of April he will decide whether mankind must be destroyed or whether it has turned out to be worthy of becoming Gon-Orbhon's people. What the Terrans must do to pass, however, he does not betray. Homer G. Adams and Mondra Diamond remain free from Gon-Orbhon's influence and manage to flee their pursuers, along with the clone elephant Norman, who can somehow tell when a person near him is under the influence of Gon-Orbohn. They take refuge with the close to bankruptcy Circus Rochette which has
made a stopover in Vienna on the way to Naples.

Matti di Rochette, the ringmaster tormented by many financial, as well as private, concerns, grants Homer and Mondra shelter. Mondra even steps in for an injured tightrope walker and picks up her old circus artist past. While she quickly becomes the new attraction in the troupe, Homer cooks up a plan to carry out a blow against Gon- Orbhon. Matti di Rochette is an amateur geologist and possesses two „ intra-terrestrial probes". These torpedo shaped machines can dig through rock and head under their own control for programmed targets. Homer wants to equip them with explosives and cause a locally limited eruption of Vesuvius by which the Nocturnen obelisk fragment sunk into the mountain slope would be destroyed.

Unfortunately, the control Positronics required for it are missing; Matti had not been able to afford them. Homer wants to procure the modules and makes contact with the Viennese underworld for this purpose. Matti, who is supposed to program the probes, procures information about Vesuvius at a club of Viennese amateur
geologists.

Unfortunately one of Matti's artists – Picco Lendlivé – was an early member of the " Group of Gentle Rebels ". By chance the leader of the local TLD section bumps into this information and has the man shadowed. One night Homer meets a contact man in a gondola of the big ferris wheel in the Viennese amusement park. Mondra follows him as backup – and she has in turn Picco tagging along, who obviously has fallen for the beautiful state secretary. Suddenly the big wheel stops. Homer is threatened by his contact man with an emitter. Mondra begins to climb up the frame of the big ferris wheel. Then two police gliders appear, which come to a halt directly over Homer's gondola …

Mondra Diamond can give a deep sigh of relief: the police glider that was seemingly disturbing Homer's rendezvous with his contact man is actually involved in the "deal": the Positronic modules are being supplied by corrupt policemen. Now the Circus Rochette can break down its tents in Vienna and go to Naples, where first of all a security checkpoint must be overcome. Everything is taken apart, but nothing is discovered. After the circus is put back together again, Homer, Mondra and the circus troupe are allowed in.

Meanwhile, Gon-Orbhon expands his terrorist regime on Terra. His power rests not only on mental influencing and naked violence – there are also more than enough followers who join him voluntarily.

On April 15, 333 NGE, the " Day of the Proclamation ",Gon-Orbhon personally appears and declares that the Terrans are worthy of becoming "his" people. He needs the Terrans, however, only until his true plans are realized. He wants to retrieve ARCHETIM'S body from Sol and send it to Parrakh, the location of Satrugar. This is also the real reason for why he has pulled together all the Kybb- Titans in the Sol system. How long the recovery of ARCHETIM will take, is still unknown. And that is why the Terrans should serve him as a defending race.

Due to some tricks and the application of their artistic abilities the circus is ordered to become the opening act for the " Day of the Proclamation ". The show - with which a volcanic eruption complete with lava surfing is simulated - is a full success. This is also true for Homer, because with the hover board which Mondra gets hold of during the show, he gets the last piece of equipment he needs for the realization of his plan, which he cannot be dissuaded from by the fact that Reginald Bull is with Gon-Orbhon, as he discovers during the show.

They break into a Camorra warehouse and procure for themselves the explosives which are demanded for Homer's plan. Along the way, Homer still care for some confusion with the Camorristas and Don Carreras, stealing a substantial sum of money which he gives to the ringmaster, Matti, who has been suffering under heavy financial concerns.

Subterranean probes equipped with the explosives are sunk with the help of the hover board into the shaft of an old exploratory drilling site not far from Naples, from where the probes will make their way, steered by Matti di Rochette's programmed Positronics, on their way to Vesuvius. They will reach their goal, however, only at the end of May.

Babett Bündchen, a high wire artist in the Circus Rochette, causes a short amount of excitement: the woman fell in love with Homer G.
Adams. When he finally tells her that they must separate until the Earth is freed, she takes it as a complete rejection of her.
Babett's crushed spirit is ripe for the influence of Gon-Orbhon and succumbs to it. Norman, the clone elephant, recognizes that she is affected, and pushes her into the shaft where she supposedly falls to her death. It is not known whether Gon-Orbohn got information out of her in time…

All the Schohaakes living on Terra are having the same dream - they
dream about an optical phenomenon in the form of a spiral galaxy,
which expands with structural vibrations of the space time
continuum, until it encloses the whole Milky Way and then seems to
disappear - Myles Kantor and Inshanin explores their relationship
and the TRIPTYCH stations. In both cases they have success: With the
one are now a couple and spend some blissful hours together. With
the other, with Orren Snaussenid's assistance, who the central
computer of TRIPTYCH recognizes as a technician (unfortunately only
with reduced rights), solve some of the secrets of the three
gigantic knot shaped stations, which were set up twenty million
years ago by the Schohaakes inside the sun.

First they learn the true names of the stations. Only DENYCLE
(= Spirit), the station on which Kantor's team is currently, was
accessible to Schohakke pilgrims at that time that wanted to visit
ARCHETIM'S grave. DENYCLE had been fitted out magnificently as a
pilgrimage site, and only here were the Incarnations set up for the
public The two other stations, ODAAN (= Hand) and SCHANDAVYE (=
Eye), served as practical technological centers and were not
accessible by the pilgrims. Kantor's people discover a
functioning transmitter system with which one (if a technician) can
easily transfer from one station to the other, even under the
conditions of increased hyperimpedance. Schohaake technology does
not seem to be impaired by the change of this universal constant.
Orren Snaussenid finds an Incarnation on DENYCLE, who must have been
the last person processed. It is still located in the machine (a
modified transmitter), with which it was "manufactured". In
SCHANDAVYE, the Schohaake accidentally discovers a storeroom, in
which further Incarnations are stored – and some of them have two
thumbs on each hand. Due to the bad experience that Orren had
encountered with Mamor Ir'kham, he does not want to touch it, but
still feels the pull emanating from it.

Meanwhile, the scientists figure out how to activate some power
plants in ODAAN. ARCHETIM'S corpse, which one can locate with the
station's sensors, is stimulated to a strange activity: The
spirit of dead superintelligence seems to grope for the
consciousness of the humans. This groping stops immediately, when
the plants are deactivated. A radiogram is caught a little later
from the MUNGO PARK. There is a battle raging in the spaceship! Gon
Orbhon has brought much of the crew under his control, and the ship
eventually falls into his hands. Now the crew of the INTRALUX is
finally cut off from any assistance.

Then fifty of the fifty-four Kybb Titans in the solar system
encircle the sun and coat it with hyperenergetic radiation fronts,
which shake the TRIPTYCH stations heavily, when they are touched by
the fronts. Inshanin discovers that Sol is being heated by the
radiation fronts – like back at that time with the Cappin death
satellites. If this process is not stopped, then within the next six
week's time – at the latest May 27, 1333 NGE - Sol will
inexorably transform into a nova. Gon Orbhon clearly hopes that
ARCHETIM'S corpse will be thereby ejected with the nova
explosion, and he can then simply "collect" it...

Now, Orren Snaussenid begins to touch the Incarnations stored in
SCHANDAVYE and thereby sees the end of the Schohaake empire. After
the end of ARCHETIM the Schohaakes withdrew into isolation, while
the other races of Phariske-Erigons attacked each other. Then the
galaxy was hit hard by an extragalactic foreign race which then
systematically destroyed the Schohaakes and spared only Oaghonyr. In
the final phase of their history the Schohaakes not only developed
the mental communication with computers which was also used on the
TRYPTYCH stations, but also executed genetic experiments on
themselves. This is why some of the Schohaake Incarnations have two
thumbs on each hand.

For Myles Kantor and his people the situation is coming to a head,
so they reach for any straw. Using the equipment on ODAAN they
manipulate ARCHETIM'S body in such a way so that a pulsed signal
can be sent to Magellan over the 6-D jet ray. They hope to be able
to inform the RICHARD BURTON in this way about what Gon-Orbhon plans
for Sol. The plan has only one drawback: Gon-Orbhon can locate this
Morse signal. The reaction follows promptly: the Kybb-Titans succeed
in " homing in" on the TRYPTYCH stations and giving them a thorough
shaking with shock wave fronts. Just in time the stations can be
pushed deeper into the sun with correction engines where they are
safe from the shock waves. The situation is hopeless. Either the
stations must remain in their new position, where the protection
screens will be overloaded in few days and break down or they have
to emerge again, where they will be in range of the Kybb-Titans.
Both would inevitably lead to their destruction.

Myles Kantor develops a desperate plan to at least not die
senselessly. It is possible to manipulate the 6-D jet ray still
farther and radiate enough energy over it that Gon-Orbohn may not be
able to endure it. However, as soon as the overloading stimulation
impulse required is fired at ARCHETIM, his body would "rear up",
which would also lead to a violent thrust of solar activity – and
that would be the end of the TRYPTYCH stations. The decision for
this plan must be unanimous, but Orren Snaussenid does not want to
die in this way. He flees into the hangar in which he had found the
last Incarnation – and goes into the petrifaction machine. When
Myles and the others follow, Orren has already become an Incarnation.
Because the other crew members agree, Myles gets ready to send the
stimulation impulse. But before he can do this, the stations are hit
again by shock wave fronts. There is heavy devastation. Attaca
Meganon and Inshanin are lethally injured and the statue computer
station is destroyed. Myles does not hesitate any longer. He drags
himself towards the detection headquarters where a functional
computer still stands. He thinks he hears the typical Homeric
laughter of ES and asks himself whether the superintelligence had
regenerated his legs at that time long ago ( after Myles' legs
had been destroyed in an attack) only so that he could now reach the
detection headquarters. Anyway, when he reaches the room he
activates the stimulation impulse. ARCHETIM rears. An enormous wave
of mental energy races along the 6-D jet ray. The sun balloons and
TRIPTYCH is destroyed. As Myles Kantor dies on April 30, 1333 NGE
and his cell activator chip is destroyed, a light show spreads out
in the form of a spiral galaxy which seems to enclose the Milky Way
and then disappears. Now everyone that had seen this phenomenon
knows that an immortal has passed to the other side.

However, Myles Kantor's death has still another effect. Before
his end, the mysterious tattoo on his upper arm that ES gave him
dissolved. It passed on the "voices" of all the Incarnations set up
in the TRYPTYCH stations to the Schohaakes living on Terra. Now two
thousand five hundred Schohaakes carry the whole knowledge of their
race inside them. And thirty-five other Schohaakes retain the
memories of Myles Kantor in this same way…

February 8th 1331 NGE: operating in the Greater Magellanic Cloud,
the RICHARD BURTON has brought itself to security from its pursuers.
Bré Tsinga has survived the psionic shock with which Gon-Orbhon
wanted to kill her: the shock was toned down by the newest version
of the PsIo-net developed by Trerok. The Cosmopsychologist is
revived, and the organs that were destroyed due to the attack cloned
from previously taken cells and implanted. Some weeks pass until her
complete recovery, but afterwards she is free of Gon-Orbhon's
influence. She is no longer a disciple of the false "god", but
cannot remember anything of the time she spent under his spell. In a
shipboard court Bré Tsinga is acquitted of the blame for the
murder of two TLD agents, because she was not acting under her free
will. However, this judgment must be confirmed within 12 months by a
Terran court.

While RICHARD BURTON waits for the arrival of the second wave of the
CRYSTAL STORM fleet, Malcolm S. Daellian gives Kantiran order to
keep Ascari da Vivo under surveillance. The Mascant is hardly being
seen outside her cabin, but in her place her Dron bodyguard behaves
strangely in public. He even attacks the Ara physician Prak-Noy.
With the help of the Dwarmari insects he mentally controls, Kantiran
finds out that Ascari da Vivo sometimes takes off her PsIso-net. His
assumption that she wants to make contact with Gon-Orbhon is
correct: Ascari knows that Gon-Orbhon is interested only in the
Terrans or ARCHETIM'S body, which is inside Sol. On her own
initiative – without the order of Imperator Bostich- she
developed a plan to offer Gon-Orbhon an alliance with her race, the
Arkonides.

It is observed that enormous naval groups are being pulled together
in the Parr system. A direct attack on the Nocturnen obelisk
Satrugar would therefore be completely hopeless. Instead, under
Trerok's leadership experiments are executed with the 6-D jet ray
directed upon Sol. However, attempts to interrupt the ray, to
interfere with it or to send a message to the Sol system over it run
unsuccessfully. Some time later 10 DISCOVERERS and a LFT-BOX of the
second wave reach the Greater Magellanic Cloud. Apart from that only
5 other LFT BOXES and 8 PONTOON tenders survived the journey, and
they have established a bridgehead at Navo North. They immediately
begin the exchange of worn out generators in the DISCOVERERS, and
the LFT BOX is completely cannibalized. The ships are soon again
fully operational, but the reserves must be nevertheless carefully
divided if a return to the Milky Way should remain possible. On
April 26, 1333 NGE they receive the emergency call sent out by Myles
Kantor over the jet ray. At the same moment all the ships that Gon-
Orbhon had concentrated in the Parr system swarm out around the
Greater Magellanic Cloud. Because she herself gets no contact with
Gon-Orbhon, Ascari da Vivo sabotages Bré Tsinga's PsIso-net.
Certainly, the damage is quickly discovered, but it is unclear
whether Gon-Orbhon has succeeded in bringing Bré Tsinga back under
his control.

Malcolm S. Daellian gives his next orders. A DISCOVERER should pull
the attention of the Kybb upon itself. The rest of the ships about
whose existence Gon-Orbhon still knows nothing, should try to attack
Parrakhon.

On a planet in the Parrakhon star cluster, the
freighter DRAGUUN of the Orbhon Empire loaded with
hypercrystals fell thousands of years ago, boring
itself perpendicularly into the soil. Since then the
natives of the planet have worshiped it as the "Iron
Finger of God". A survivor of the crash told something
about technology and space travel to the natives, who
were probably descended from large feline like
predators. This information was written down in the
so-called "Iron Book", but the contents of the book
were twisted by misunderstandings, repeatedly
incorrect re-translations, etc., so that it no longer
makes much sense. In the thousands of years since the
crash on the planet, which its inhabitants call Dyon’s
Earth, a culture developed, which is comparable with
the Terran Middle Ages. The brotherhood of the Iron
Seekers has long striven to decode the secrets of the
Iron Book, thereby however moving onto dangerous
terrain, because the dominant priest caste condemns
any occupation with the Iron Book as heresy.

The noble Geon Durn of Taraon is an outstanding
scientist from the Brotherhood of Iron Seekers. He
discovers by precise measurements that the city
Grachtovan built around the Iron Finger of God is not
by any means located on the equator of the planet
Dyon’s Earth and also cannot be regarded as the center
of the world and/or the universe. When he publicly
announces this and also that the Iron Finger of God
must be a star ship, he thereby puts the existence of
god and the need for rule by the priest caste in
question. Geon Durn is arrested for heresy, tortured
and placed on top of a bonfire, which consists of the
shreds of his own writings. But rebels, who have
already caused a change of power in the surrounding
lands, attack Grachtovan at this hour. In addition the
DRAGUUN, which had received the swarm instruction from
its directing center, launches after having repaired
itself with help of its freight of hypercrystals. When
the alleged Finger of God rises from the planet’s
surface, the entire city Grachtovan is destroyed. That
is also the end of the despotism of the priests. Geon
Durn is barely released in time by his friends. For
the planet’s people a new, more liberal age begins.

The RICHARD BURTON is still hiding together with the other
DISCOVERERS in the corona of the Dyon sun. Only the VITUS JONASSEN
BERING is still flying around in Magellan in order to pull the
attention of Gon-O's troops upon it as best it can. The idea is to
trick them into thinking it is the RICHARD BURTON.

When a spaceship launches from the single planet of the Dyon system,
the alarm is given on the RICHARD BURTON. However, it rapidly turns
out that the ancient spaceship whose engines quickly fail after the
launch represents no danger. Malcolm S. Daellian orders RICHARD
BURTON flown from the corona to examine the ship more closely. The
scientific team under the command of Uturan Kook rapidly finds out
that the DRAGUUN, as the one hundred and thirty meters long and
fifty meters wide spaceship is called is a freighter, which had been
transporting technical devices for the armed forces. As the convoy
to which the DRAGUUN belonged was attacked thousands of years ago by
Helix torpedoes and wiped out, the ship succeeded at the last minute
to make an emergency landing on Dyon I. The DRAGUUN was stuck there,
up to a few days before when the swarm order was sent out in the
Parr system. Then it made emergency repairs and launched. Aboard the
freighter two KYBB-RAMS are discovered intact, which are unsuitable
for flight, because they are not reequipped for the new conditions
of hyperimepedance.

When a radio message suddenly arrives in an old secret USO code, the
cruiser EAGLE is sent to the indicated meeting place.

Meanwhile Daellian comes up with the plan to make the KYBB-RAMS
flightworthy again with mini-HAWK generators and to sneak into the
Parr system with them. Timm Kammschott , a brilliant technical
engineer and scientist stricken with multiple phobias is to
participate in the refurbishment, as is the Zaliter Trerok. But
Ascari da Vivo sets the condition that in return for the Zaliter,
she and her Dron bodyguard must be allowed to participate in the
examination of the DRAGUUN. Daellian unhappily agrees.

When the EAGLE returns, it brings a great surprise along.
Accompanying the spherical spaceship are two bionic cruisers. Aboard
the GREEN MOON is Hytath, the Bleeding Sentry, who brings news of
Atlan. After Daellian and his command crew have been informed about
the situation in the Milky Way, Malcolm reports on the events in
Magellan.

On the instruction of Daellian, Hythath returns with the GREEN MOON
to the Milky Way, while the second bionic cruiser, the EYESIGHT,
joins the fleet in Magellan.

Even as the KYBB-RAMS are made operational, the alarm is given
again. The Ultra-giraffe has measured a substantial increase in the
intensity of the jet ray from the Sol system. Daellian concludes
immediately that the Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar will be overloaded
by the raised energy supply, and sees the chance for the attack on
Parrakh. He orders the immediate departure of the small fleet with
its target as the Parr system. The DRAGUUN stays behind in the Dyon
system. Daellian is induced to first launch two cruisers from the
RICHARD BURTON for the protection of the freighter, when he realizes
the crews efficiency is lowered by worry for the scientists on the
DRAGUUN.

Arriving in the Parr system, the fleet discovers that the Kybbs seem
paralyzed. Shortly after, all chaos breaks out, as Gon-O's ships
begin to fire at each other. The fleet from the Milky Way proceeds
with a short linear stage to the vicinity of Parrakh. Before the
RICHARD BURTON can attack the planet, however, a Kybb-Titan
positions itself in the way. After the DISCOVERER is hit by a salvo
of the Kybb-Titan, almost the bridge crew including Commander Ranjif
Pragesh is knocked out. At the last second Daellian barely manages
to order the ship's computer to introduces an emergency linear
stage, which brings the RICHARD BURTON to the edge of the Parr
system.

When it is then discovered that energy volume of the 6-D jet ray is
falling again and conditions are returning to normal in the Parr
system, Daellian orders the retreat to the Dyon system. Since the
direct attack was not successful, now he plans to use the two KYBB-
RAMS to smuggle people into the Parr system.

In the meantime, Ascari da Vivo and her Dron Qertan had stayed
behind on the DRAGUUN with the rushed departure of the RICHARD
BURTON. Because Kantiran and Mal Detair are not on the freighter,
the Arkonide can pursue her plans undisturbed now. She still wants
to take up contact with Satrugar in order to forge a coalition
between Arkon and Gon-Orbhon against Terra. Together with the Dron
the Mascantin takes control of one of the two now reequipped KYBB-
RAMS. However, to do so, they have to kill several scientists and
space soldiers, among them Timm Kammschott. After launching, Ascari
and Qertan set the KYBB-RAM on course for the Parr system.

Aboard one of the Service Stations Kantiran observes
how Ascari da Vivo blows out the hatch of the DRAGUUN
and flees with a KYBB-RAM. Assuming the fact that his
mother and arch-enemy wants to speak to Gon-Orbhon he
follows her together with Mal Detair in the second RAM
to the Parr system, in order to prevent this.

The pursued has an opportunity during the six minutes
of flight to Parrakh to think about her past and her
mission. She comes to the conclusion that she is doing
the right thing.

As Kantiran's KYBB-RAM materializes in the Parr
system, it is attacked, but with the greatest of
efforts Perry Rhodan's son succeeds in landing on
Parrakh near the Nocturnen obelisk. When they
get out of their RAM, Kantiran and Mal Detair find out
that Ascari and Qertan have already entered Satrugar's
body. Shortly after, they resolutely follow their
prey.

Inside the crystal both parties must fight against
Satrugar's mental confusion, which also affects their
thoughts. Kantiran has to particularly suffer from it
on account of his latent Psi-talent, and has a vision
that makes him believe he is talking to his great dead
love Thereme.

This peaceful vision is violently interrupted. The
parties confront each other and Ascari fires on her
son, but misses due to crystalline distortions.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, the
Nocturnen obelisk Satrugar reacts to the foreign
beings in his body, walls appear where there were
passages before, and everyone becomes
separated.

Mal Detair comes upon the Dron Qertan. It comes to a
duel between the two, which the Fuertone finally
decides in his favor after a long battle. But the
danger for the former animal healer is not yet
over, as the tunnel his is in is flooding with water.

As Ascari wanders through the Nocturnen obelisk in
search of Gon-Orbhon, she is made to remember when she
and the Imperator had the fetus Kantarin removed from
her body and suddenly feels some sorrow
for it. A bit later she comes to an area in the
obelisk in which for inexplicable reasons her
spacesuit heats up, so that she is forced
to take it off. In the neighboring space she sees an
apparently perfect looking humanoid being: Gon-Orbhon.

Kantiran also comes to the spot in which he must take
off his spacesuit dress because of overheating. He
enters the neighboring space and sees his mother
trying to talk to the projection of Gon-Orbhon. When
she notices him, the projection vanishes and it comes
to a duel between the two of them.

It is a hard fought battle. When Ascari recognizes
that her son is not to be easily defeated, she
pretends to feel remorse towards him. But Kantiran
recognizes her intention at the last second and
continues bitterly fighting. Ascari finally falls and
a crystal fragment bores through her body.

Kantiran finds his way out of the Nocturnen obelisk
with his dying mother. There he finds Mal Deatir who
has also escaped from the crystal obelisk through a
tunnel to the lake. The Mascantin takes her last
breath of life. Before the final end she directs a
final wish to her son: He should hold the deathwatch
for her.

They find the two KYBB-RAMS destroyed. Kantiran knows
that he is condemned to inactivity. He holds the
deathwatch for his mother and with it he forgives her.

The effects of the 6D-shockwave sent by Myles Kantor on April 30,
1333 NGE towards the Greater Magellanic Cloud are not to be felt on
Terra at first. The former Protector Gon Orbhon still stands under
the influence of the mad Nocternen obelisk Satrugar. The Kybb-Titans
continue to heat the sun, in order to transform it into supernova.
Reginald Bull, Icho Tolot and Gucky are still in imprisoned in the
Nocternen obelisk, which serves as a relay for Gon-O's mental
impulses.

Tagg Kharzani, the dying Protector, reaches for any straw in his
fear of his approaching death. To protect himself from his
isolation, he had himself manufactured a synthetic reproduction of
Enkrine, which he ends up trampling in a fit of rage exactly like he
did his former symbiont. Because of the rapid decaying of his
physical forces Kharzani can now move around only with the help of a
micro-gravity neutralizer and crutches or in a heavily armed
floating chair that he has produced. High-ranking physicians of his
Kybb-Ttitan attempt to save his life by cloning healthy organs from
tissue samples they take from him. However, the preliminary tests on
these tissue samples appear to show a rampant cell disintegration
that will make any cloning attempt fail. It also means that
Kharzani's actual organs will soon begin to completely fail also and
this cannot be stopped. Kharzani.

Gon Orbhon is not ready to help Kharzani any longer. He refuses to
give Kharzani the cell activator chip of any of the three prisoners,
because the Galactics might still be useful as hostages, and
Kharzani could not use their personally calibrated chips anyway.
However, Gon Orbhon cannot do without Kharzani, because he needs him
to control the Kybb races. The Kybbs might not willingly continue to
help Gon-O without Kharzani. Therefore Gon Orbhon makes Kharzani's
second in command, the Prim-Director Deitz Duarto the new commander
in chief and secretly has cyborgs with the appearance of a younger,
healthy Tagg Kharzani manufactured, which will serve as puppets, as
soon as the genuine Kharzani is dead.

When Kharzani learns of these plans, he runs amok. He destroys one
of the cyborg doubles and tries to kill Deitz Duarto, but is
arrested and taken back to Gon Orbhon, who orders his
bodyguard/servant, Millitron, to shoot Kharzani. Just as Gon Orbohn
gives the order, the relay begins to shake and the hypercrystal
begins to shine brightly. A mental radiation that confuses one's
mind begins to spread, and Gon Orbohn falls unconscious. This
happens on May 04, 1333 NGE.

The effects of the hypershock wave running along the jet ray are
also noticeable within the Temple of the Gradual Decline. The sect
members there are exposed to an unbelievable mental pressure, and
many of them cannot extract themselves from it. They react with an
inhuman amount of aggression against others and even kill. Carlosch
Imberlock is also affected, being shortly released from Gon-O's
control, but he is quickly taken back under control. He leaves the
temple and cannot believe his eyes. The obelisk relay is shining
like a lightshow in all the colors of the rainbow.

On Luna things are far from running their usual course. Cleaning
technician Jack C. Reuter, a passionate hamster breeder, French
connoisseur and less successful attractor of women, is trying his
luck with the Technician Mardi Dice. But during his amorous attempts
they are interrupted by the planetary disaster alarm. Various high
level personnel and agents of the TLS have been taken over by Gon-O
and now take over control of Luna. Some uninfluenced humans had
armed themselves and tried to offer resistance. However they did not
have enough to oppose the militarily trained armed forces. Jack
adheres to the slogan: better a living coward than a dead hero.

Over the next days the new ruling powers consolidate their power and
soon carry out public executions, like had occurred on the Earth.
Everyone not arrested is forced to participate as spectators. Jack
cannot bear the psychological pressure and faints from his disgust
and abhorrence of this. His friend Brad Hinx manages to get him home.

Meanwhile production is started up in a mothballed shipyard facility
in the Mare Crisium. The technical engineers working there make sure
not to ask any questions about what they are making, because they
regard the newly arrive head there, Raphael, as a disciple of Gon-O.

The newly formed agency "Eye on NATHAN" is interested in the
proceedings at the old shipyard. They have the task of keeping a
constant eye on all suspicious activities and preventing any
opposition by the lunar grand computer. It turns out that Raphael
has nothing to do with Gon-O and had appeared out of thin air.

Jack finally gets back to his normal life, until he receives a
message. NATHAN has contacted him with a secret mission. He is to
use a particular terminal at a certain time. He passes the time with
a rendezvous with Mardi, whom he inadvertently reveals some of this
to. He has to leave her and reaches the terminal right on time. He
fills up a data crystal and receives his next instructions there.

His next order leads him to a remote hypercom station. Here he
follows his instructions and ends up contacting Perry Rhodan in
Wega. After the transmission of some data, which he received from
NATHAN, he is sent back more data in a data record named CRYSTAL
STORM II that he is to deliver to NATHAN in two days time.

Waiting for May 10th drives Jack to distraction. He avoids any
contact with Mardi and shuts himself in his cabin. At the deadline,
he is rerouted to the Thora Shipyard. Under the eyes of Mardi, who
works there, he starts the program. The machinery there changes what
they are producing and where it is delivered. The new goal is a
technical complex within the Zwiebus Crater. Jack is very nervous
after the fulfillment of his orders and brought by Mardi to her
place. The confession of their affection brings them upon other
thoughts get caught up in them. Later on though, Jack receives new
orders for one last task.

The activities at the Mare Crisium shake up the agency watching over
NATHAN. Some unknown kind of apparatus is being built there. The
agents occupy the shipyard and take Raphael prisoner. A questioning
of the technician does not result in any new hints, for nobody has
any idea of what they were working on. When Raphael refuses any co-
operation, he is shot. After his death, it turns out that he had
been a Daniel robot, a perfect imitation of a human. The machine
that was being built also provides not information because as soon
as Raphael was shot, it exploded. The last trail for the agency to
follow now is a cleaning technician who has been behaving strangely
for the last few days.

Jack is taken captive by a group of TLS agents. They do not
appreciate his gallows humor, and carry out a full body cavity
inspection with painful probes. After the useless procedure his head
is shaven bald before he is released. No reason is given for it. All
it accomplishes is cementing Jack's cooperation with NATHAN, in
order to revenge his humiliation at the hands of Gon-O's agents.

His last task leads him back to a hypercom unit. He conveys the
confirmation signal to Wega. CRYSTAL STORM II has been successfully
begun.

The situation in the Temple of the Gradual Decline on Terra has
calmed down. However, the disciples are still suffering from the
silence of their god, and the obelisk relay still resembles a
fireworks display. Whether Gon-O will recover soon, lies in the
stars.

Heavy vibrations run through the obelisk relay on Terra. The
fragment of Satrugars body is continually changing its consistency
and internal structure. Walls and corridors develop and vanish as if
out of nowhere. Bully, Icho Tolot and Gucky are however shielded in
their psi-prison from the violence. Nevertheless, in their
misfortuneone cannot call the situation lucky . Gon-O's prisoners
have not received food and drink for days already. When Bully and
Gucky are close to death from it, Millitron finally brings the
prisoners enough food and water to last them three days.

On the tenth day of the psi-thunderstorm the immortal's psi-prison
cannot withstand the blustering violence any longer and dissolves.
The cell activators succeed in escaping. Gucky must be knocked out
by Icho Tolot, because he suffers too much from the psi-radiation of
the relay. While Tolot looks for their combat suits, Bully goes to
find Gon Orbhon. He would like to take the former Protector
hostage.

Gon Orbhon is free for a short time from the influence of Satrugar.
In a conscious moment, in which Reginald Bull buries him under
falling down crystal, he reveals to Bull that the Kybb-Titans around
Sol are heating it up to nova. He implores the immortal to get him
out of the obelisk relay because then Satrugar cannot use his
ability of mental dislocation anymore. The taken over Terrans would
be freed. Before he can give Bull any further information, Gon
Orbhon falls unconscious.

Since a hijacking of the Protector fits into Bully's plans, he
decides together with Tolot, who has gotten back together with him
meanwhile, to bring Gon Orbhon's body from Satrugar's fragment. Now
they have to find a way from the relay.

The escape from the crystal fragment proves to be extremely
difficult. The corridors of the obelisk relay constantly change and
it does not seem to be possible. While Bull wanders with Tolot
through the passages, he sees a projection of Kantiran as he holds
deathwatch for his mother.

Millitron meanwhile notices that his lord has disappeared and takes
up pursuit with the Moto-clones. It briefly locates the activator
bearers before the exit with their hostage. While Tolot diverts the
Moto-clone and defeats it in the fight, Bull brings Gucky out of the
relay. Then he goes right back into the relay, in order to get the
unconscious Protector. He comes upon Millitron, which he finally
manages to defeat in the fight. But he does not find the Protector.
He leaves the matter in the relay unfinished and meets Gucky outside,
where he has meanwhile awakened. Tolot reaches them, and they
teleport into a forest area in the proximity of Naples.

This is observed by Homer G. Adams and Mondra Diamond. They are glad
over the fact that their friends have escaped, but sad that they
could apparently not accomplish anything in the relay. Their hope
now rests again upon the Krakatoa probes.

In the obelisk relay Gon Orbhon awakes from his unconsciousness.
Shaken, the Protector, who stands now again under the influence of
Satrugar, accepts the knowledge that his faithful servant Millitron
and apparently both Moto-clones were destroyed.

In the Vega system they are working with high pressure on the
installation of the twenty-four the new USO supplied dissonance
cannons into the heavy units of the Terran fleet. New dissonance
cannons cannot be built on Ferrol, because the Ferrones are not able
to understand hyper-dimensional connections due to the way their
minds work - they cannot copy the modules needed for dissonance
cannons well enough. On May 15, 1333 NGE NATHAN passes on a message
from Reginald Bull to Perry Rhodan, informing him that the fifty
Kybb-Titans are in the process of heating up Sol until it goes nova.
As Rhodan also learns that this process will become irreversible at
the latest on May 27th, twelve days away, so he arranges an attack
on the Sol system, which is to take place within twenty-four hours.

On May 16th, the Terran fleet arrives in the Sol system. Only three
Kybb-Titans oppose it, because one must continue to guard the
obelisk relay, and the fifty others must continue to heat up Sol -
obviously Gon-O cannot afford to release even one ship from it. Once
more the surprise effect is on the side of the Terrans, because the
Kybbs do not suspect that there is not only one dissonance cannon,
but that two dozen of the ships, in addition to the TRAJAN, are
equipped with them. Thus the fleet succeeds in blasting apart
another Kybb-Titan. The two others however play a cat and mouse game
with the Terran naval forces, which must distribute themselves over
the whole Sol system and not approach close enough to the Kybb-
Titans heating up Sol o get blown up themselves.

But all these engagements are actually serving only as a diversion.
In reality Rhodan is only concerned with retrieving some thousand
machines that NATHAN secretly produced and deposited into a storage
depot on Luna's dark side in Zwiebus Crater. A commando mission
retrieves the modules, having only an approximately twenty minute
time window for it. That is how long a quasi-shadow is thrown
between the Earth and Moon - the Kybb-Titan stationed over Vesuvius
would have to shoot through the obelisk relay itself, the Earth and
the Moon to hit them. And the Titan is not about to destroy the
obelisk relay. But the Kybb-Titan cannot move away from its location
over Vesuvius, because then the Terrans would have a free field of
fire on the obelisk relay. The idea of this strategy of "absolute
binding" came to Rhodan during a round of correspondence chess,
which he is playing against a simple First lieutenant of the fleet.

The plan threatens to fail, when Derek Pander, a technician, who was
involuntarily stranded on a DISCOVERER, tries to stay behind on the
Moon. He hides himself in the storage depot, in order to then return
quietly and secretly to Terra and his family. If Gon-O caught him
and mentally took him over, then he would learn what had been stored
in the depot in Zwiebus Crater. That would make all of Rhodan's
planning fail in vain. At the last moment, Pander is talked into
reason and returns to his DISCOVERER. The fleet withdraws with the
retrieved containers to the Wega system. Rhodan achieved his goal,
but the price for it is high: Over two hundred heavy combat ships
and more than one thousand cruisers were destroyed, and the human
losses reach into the hundreds of thousands.

Now Rhodan reveals the actual goal of Operation CRYSTAL TOWER II to
his command officers. The manufactured modules on Luna are nothing
less than exactly the components of dissonance cannons, which could
not be built on Ferrol! With these modules, altogether one thousand
two hundred and twenty dissonance cannons can be installed. Can one
thus say that the mission was worthwhile? Yes. But deep inside
himself, Rhodan hopes that he will never think in such a way. That
he will never regard the humans, who trust him so much, as figures
in a game of chess, which one can indiscriminately sacrifice...

In the star ocean of Jamondi the Kybbs are not giving any great
resistance to the Alliance of Morality. Zephyda and her Motanas have
taken up residence in the Tan Jamondi system, along with two hundred
fifty type II DISCOVERERS and five thousand LFT BOXES. The Stellar
Majesty has set up her base close to the Rogan Cathedral on Tan-
Jamondi II. Her affair with Atlan has fallen victim to the dullness
of everyday life, which does not agree with them. The two are
gradually growing away from each other.

The captured Kybbs are interrogated nonstop, but no hints are found
that the cybernetic civilizations are in the possession of a weapon
against the Kybb-Titans. As a Xenopsychologist on the LEIF ERIKSSON,
Hajmo Siderip, informs the ancient Arkonide, a high ranking Kybb-
Trake is ready to collaborate with the Motanas. Naturally not
without consideration in return: the Kybb-Trake demands to be set
free and given a spaceship. His name is Iant Letoxx. Atlan is
completely ready to accept such a demand, but Letoxx does not really
have anything to offer. However, because time is running out to save
Terra and Sol from destruction (it is already May 22, 1333 NGE),
Siderip works out a plan. Certainly, it finds little love in return
from the armed forces in the form the chief of the landing troops of
the LEIF ERIKSSON, Jallon Hypt, but Atlan is ready to reach for any
straw. Siderip wants to look in the mega-city Whocain on Tan-Ice for
the weapon. He wants to present himself in it as a cultural attaché
of Jamondi and play a bit of the fool, so that the Kybbs do not
recognize the true plan immediately. Letoxx should go along, also as
an ambassador for co-operation. Certainly, the forger and swindler
does not like this, but it seems to be his single chance, so he
accepts. Going along with them will be Filana Karonadse. The
Positronic specialist has changed a lot in the last year, having
implanted cybernetic modules in her brain and eye and is thereby
able to simulate the Traken-sense. A troop of space marines will
take part, with their leader, the Oxtorner Gorm Goya.

As part of a distraction, the Terrans establish a gigantic frame
which has the same size as a Kybb-Titan. They want the Kybbs to
believe that the Terrans are looking for the architect's plans for
these giant ships in Whocain, in order to construct one.

Letoxx leads the troop to Whocain, where they are quickly attacked,
but it is a harmless attack, akin to throwing a tomato. Then,
purposely misconstruing the meaning of `seeing the cultural assets
on the planet' he takes them to a Kresoten ( animals similar to
giant boars) hunting game arena, where Letoxx makes a fool of
Siderip, who only notices this too late. He also barely escapes an
assassin's attack, when one of the winning hunters is cybernetically
taken control of and made to attack him. Gorm Goya manages to stop
the assassin just in time.

Shaken by the attack, Siderip has them move on, flying to the
cybernetic university to begin their real work. In the university
the group discovers a hint of hybrid computer which come from the
time before the birth of the hypercocoons and have not yet been
reactivated. Even as Filana penetrates into the Kybb network,
another attack is made, this time a gas explosion attack, which
causes much damage and many injuries. Part of the troop is buried, a
part of the university is destroyed, a marine loses his life and
Iant Letoxx vanishes. Filana Karonadse escapes with a broken leg.

Back on the LEIF ERIKSSON the young Xenoplychologist is deeply
depressed over what he sees as a complete failure, but just the
tough Ertruser Jallon Hypt gives him a pep talk about how the fact
is they are conducting a war and in war shit happens. The attack's
were not Siderip's fault and the mission was working. They need to
go back down and continue it as soon as Siderip has gathered himself
again and Karonadse is recovered.

The message comes from Zephyda that the Autonomous Gray has sent a
family of Schota-Magathe with the order that a passenger should be
fetched from Mykronoer. The Stellar Majesty sends a bionic cruiser
to the Myk system. The Oracles cannot say who the passenger is. All
they will inform the Stellar Majesty of is the fact that Oceanic
Oracles will no longer go to Mykronoer.

In the medical station Filana experiences something strange, when
she is repeatedly spoken to by a voice inside her, while she is
still in mental control of herself. This voice says that only
Karonadse can help her. Filana may not believe it, but when the
voice is able to control the force fields keeping her in the bed,
which Filana could not do by herself, she decides to go along with
the voice's command to go to a computer substation...

The voice, which Filana Karonadse hears, turns out to be the Specter. The "electronic incarnation" of Maykie Molinas had left the RICHARD BURTON with the GREEN MOON, in order to hurry to the assistance of its friend Gucky. The GREEN MOON’S Biotronic fought it with security programs all the way to the Tan Jamondi system, so that it barely managed to survive the trip.

The Specter was surprised to recognize that some of its old technology was on board the LEIF in Filana Karonadse’s implants. But this enabled it to slowly but surely make contact with her. The Specter’s immediate problem is that it is running out of energy. Filana solves the problem, by arranging a new supply of energy from a battery pack that she then constantly carries around in a backpack, along with the containers of the Specter’s UBSEF-Constant matter. In return the Specter improves her implants.

Together they go through the data captured from the Kybbs and find an amazing instruction, which forbids the use of Kyber-Neutros in the proximity of Kybb-Titans. The logical conclusion is clear: The K/Neutro is the secret weapon they are looking for. There is only one problem. All the Kyber-Neutros were supposedly destroyed in the battle around Tan Jamondi. Only the captured and now lost Iant Letoxx can help them further.

Iant Letoxx is in the clutches of the terrorist organization TREATISE, which is led by Cende Terken, an earlier lover of Letoxx's. TREATISE wants to use Letoxx as a figurehead, in order to incite more Kybbs against the Terrans. Letoxx is therefore to be used by the organization, but not really recognized. He is not very happy with his situation.

Meanwhile the "delegation for cultural exchange" visits a school of the Kybb-Traken. There they discover an old computer with the label TREATISE. Filana and the Specter succeed in transfer the Specter into the old hybrid network and retrieving information about TREATISE and the current location of Iant Letoxx. In addition it finds out, why the Kybb-Titans do not get along with the Kyber Neutros: The K/Neutros sets the Biodim Block network, which represents the main drive of the Titans after the hyperimpedance shock, out of operation, since it consists of Motana genetic material. TREATISE has meanwhile formed an enormous network. An ever growing number of computers are being activated and integrated. A quantum leap is said to be approaching briefly.

A Terran commando team succeeds in releasing Iant Letoxx from the power of TREATISE. The Kybb-Trake now appears to be amazingly cooperative. The mission overall succeeded, but failed on one point: Prominent TREATISE members escaped, and it does not help that Letoxx is able to supply their names.

Together with Letoxx, a Terran commando team under the leadership of Hajmo Siderip goes into the underground city, in which Iant Letoxx discovered the Kyber Neutros, back then. When it penetrates into the network there, the Specter finds not only information that another five hundred K/Neutros exist, but also senses that the network is expanding and incorporating ever more computers. Thus the defense possibilities of the network, which calls itself TREATISE increases and obviously represents the origination of the terrorist organization, which now uses its resources. The Specter can only barely manage to escape a deadly attack. TREATISE is, however, not limited to a "digital" defense, but causes the underground city to collapse. The Terrans and Iant Letoxx barely manage to escape.

Filana passes on the data that the Specter, which still keeps its identity secret, retrieved from the network. It lets them determine their next target. Geront Detrakk, a legendary warrior of the Kybbs, was responsible for the transfer of the five hundred searched for Kyber Neutros. It is clear that they have to therefore search his collected and passed on belongings for a clue to their location. However this presents a problem: Detrakk’s belongings are underneath the condenser cathedral. The very thought of foreign intelligences entering the holy sanctuary in which every young Kybb-Trake has its arms amputated to receive its prostheses, would be anathema to any Kybb and would destroy all the Terrans’ attempts for peaceful communication with them in the future. Even Iant Letoxx is so angry at the thought that foreigners might enter the cathedral that he initially refuses to help the Terrans. With Atlan’s ultimatum of either agreeing to help and then receiving his Space Jet and free passage or refusing and being left as a sacrificial lamb in the cathedral, Letoxx gives in.

In the protection of deflectors Filana Karonadse and Gorm Goya enter the holy cathedral behind Iant Letoxx, who enters the cathedral visible to all. Under the cathedral, the Specter enters the network and uncovers a secret shaft. The backpack with the Specter’s soul anchor is left hooked in above, as the others take the sinking floor down the shaft. At the bottom of the shaft, a high-energy scanner prevents further penetrating with deflectors, so they take off the devices and then follow the passage. At its end is the ‘solar plexus’, the central junction of TREATISE. Waiting for the intruders are resistance fighters led by Cende Terken, who orders that Letoxx’s arm prostheses be removed as punishment for his betrayal. While Letoxx’s prostheses are removed, the Specter looks around inside the network of TREATISE’S ‘solar plexus’. The network turns out to have reached self-awareness as a digital intelligence and requests the Specter to merge with it, in order to gain what it is missing: A soul. The alternative for the Specter is extremely unpleasant: destruction. The fact that it does not come to this, the Specter owes to the stouthearted intervention of Gorm Goya, who grabs up Letoxx's detached prostheses as weapons and uses them to attack the resistance fighters. In the confusion, while Goya loses his life to give Iant Letoxx and Filana Karonadse a chance to flee, the Specter jumps from the computer network into Filana’s implant and at least partially takes over control of her body.

When the two beings of flesh and the Specter reach their sloop, TREATISE is at least badly damaged by a massive assault on the ‘solar plexus’. Filana supplies the position data and security codes for the space station over Whocain where the five hundred Kyber Neutros were hidden to Atlan. While the Kyber Neutros are retrieved, Filana/Spex asks Atlan asks to be allowed to leave the Tan Jamondi system together with Iant Letoxx on board the Space Jet he is given. Atlan grants the request, although he is a bit concerned with her appearance.

As the Space Jet leaves range of the detectors, the bionic cruiser from Mykronoer arrives. On board is Lotho Keraete. The ES’ messenger brings Atlan a good pieces of news. He succeeded in persuading Ka Than, aka the Autonomous Gray, the mental remnant of the second Nocturnen obelisk, to actively fight against Gon-O. Ka Than has left Mykronoer. Atlan and the Terrans still have one problem: None of their ships is fast enough to fly the five hundred K/Neutros to the Sol system quickly enough. Atlan goes to Tan Jamondi, in order to have a conversation with Zephyda…

In the Vega system Perry Rhodan collects his fleet for the final attack on the Kybb-Titans in the Sol system. It is May 26, 1333 NGE and time is burning under the nails of the Terran Resident. It is two hours before midnight and the technical engineers are still working under pressure on the installation of the new dissonance cannons, which had been retrieved with Operation " CRYSTAL STORM II " on Luna.

In vain Rhodan waits for news from Jamondi, from his old friend Atlan. Hyperstorms are still paralyzing the radio net.

On the spaceships the crews discuss the available tactics. Many of the ships are, on account of the risen hyperimpedance, only cannon fodder for the powerful Kybb-Titans. Some advocate Rhodan’s using them, while others face the plans with skepticism and do not believe in the fact that they will be used by the Resident in battle.

Then it is time, and on May 27th at 1 o'clock standard time, sixty thousand ships of all size classes enter linear space, taking only twenty eight and a half minutes to rematerialize in the Sol system. So the day of the " point of no return " begins with a gigantic decisive battle in the Sol system.

Perry Rhodan leads the attack from the central cell of PRAETORIA. The smaller units of the Terran fleet distribute themselves in the system, while the powerful units with the dissonance cannons take up position in Jupiter’s orbital lane. At first they do not succeed in luring all fifty-three Kybb-Titans from their positions, only luring two to move in the direction of Jupiter’s orbital lane, while the fifty units around the sun and the Titanium over the obelisk relay hold their position. Certainly, the weaker Terran units watch out to remain beyond the known shortest firing distance to the Titans, but the Technites of the Kybbs have worked hard and optimized the maximum range of the weapons. As a result, the FRANCISCO DE ORELLANA is hit hard by a shot close to the sun. Aboard this unit is the detection specialist Dares Aramo.

In the first act of the battle the Terrans succeeds in destroying a Titan, but the LFT must blow the retreat for at least the weaker units. After only a few minutes, Rhodan orders the retreat for these units.

When it already appears hopeless to continue fighting, Atlan arrives in the Sol system with five thousand five hundred units of the Deathbringer fleet. And four hundred ninety-eight of these ships have Kyber-Neutros aboard, a weapon that had been developed against the bionic cruisers, but is also useable against the Titans. The battle luck turns, but the Deathbringer units are also set out of the fight by the K/Neutros. As the Kybb-Titans, which now all intervene in the meantime in the battle, they direct their attacks upon the Motana units. The pendulum of the battles turns over again. Everything has come too late. Certainly, the Terrans succeed in destroying twenty Titans, but almost eighty percent of the Motana fleet is also mercilessly wiped out, as is much of the Terran fleet.

But on Terra, near Vesuvius, the cell activator bearers there decide to explode the two Krakatoa probes, after the Kybb-Titan has left its place over Naples. And the two probes bring about disastrous devastation over the land all around the volcano. In all this destructive orgy Gucky and Icho Tolot dare to push forward one more time to the obelisk relay and free Gon-Orbhon from the claws of Satrugar. The powerful Haluter enters the crystal fragment and manages to save the Protector from the obelisk. Gucky teleports with the other two back to the storage hall which served them as a hiding place. When Gon-Orbhon comes around again, he is at first much too weak to do anything. He remembers everything that he has done up to now, and wants to help, but he is too weak.

Hell is reigning in space meanwhile. The FRANCISCO DE ORELLANA runs, as their engines are brought back up, not away, but into the battle. There it is hit by a grazing shot and nearly destroyed. Some time later it explodes.

As Perry Rhodan, wants to order the retreat, horrified by the carnage, the incomprehensible happens. The Titans begin to fire at and destroy each other.

The idea bringing salvation came from Gon-Orbhon, when he asked Gucky to function as a Psi-energy generator for him. In this way Gon-Orbhon manages to one more time turn the tide of the battle. He affects the Kybb-Titans which thereupon began to destroy each other. Meanwhile, Homer G. Adams succeeds in activating an emergency evacuation plan for Naples, so that a minimum number of people are killed by the eruption.

The battle is won, but the winners are nevertheless losers; too many people have lost their lives to save the Sol system. Altogether four hundred twelve DISCOVERERS, eleven thousand eight hundred sixty-six LFT-BOXES, four thousand one hundred eighty-three units of the Deathbringer fleet and most of PRAETORIA were destroyed.

After the battle for Sol was won, the humans calm down again and begin to process the recent events. On May 28, 1333 NGE the first meeting of the solar parliament is being prepared in the Solar Residence. There, Perry Rhodan meets with Maurenzi Curtiz, Gon Orbhon and the other immortals that are on Terra, in order to make plans for the near future. Atlan decides to leave Earth for the time being and go together with Zephyda to Jamondi. The former Protector says that he will accompany them and help them to deal with the matters within the former hypercocoons, in order to pay back a part of his moral debt. Besides Rhodan, Reginald Bull, Julian Tifflor, Homer G. Adams, Icho Tolot and Gucky remain on Terra, in order to lead the reconstruction process.

At the same Kantiran and Mal Detair wait for rescue on Parrakh. They are stranded there. The Kybb-RAM with which they arrived, was destroyed. Thus all they can do is hope for rescue and meanwhile observe the activities of the mad Nocturnen obelisk. It seems, as if it is slowly dying. The glaring light show within the crystal, as well as the mental pressure, has decreased over the last few days. But then the two of them bear witness as a cloud like formation lowers itself over the obelisk, which turns out to be Ka Than, the Autonomous Gray, who has come to Parrakh to heal its brother Satrugar. The merging of the two entities temporarily creates a painful mental pressure that knocks Mal and Kantiran unconscious. When they awaken, they feel a complete absence of the mental pressure. The fusion was apparently a success. The new Satrugar radiates a wave of peace and calm.

On June 2, 1333 NGE there is a crucial convening on Tan Jamondi II. First, Zephyda steps before the crowd of ten thousand Motanas before the Rogan cathedral. She holds a short speech and then hands over the talk to Gon Orbhon. The former Protector delivers a relentless report of his life, his fall and his time as the entity Gon-O. At the end of this report, he asks the crowd for forgiveness. The Motanas do forgive him, singing the Choral of Forgiveness. After the song ends, the six Sentries encircle Gon Orbhon, in order to call up the Paragon Cross and reconfirm him as a Protector.

Afterwards the new Protector sets up numerous meetings between the Motanas and the Kybbs. There are still numerous differences and misunderstandings to clear the path to reconciliation, but the foundation stone for a peaceful co-existence is set.

At the same time there is a hostage situation on Terra, in which two hundred year Neal O'Neil takes his own great-great-great grandson hostage and demands to speak to Perry Rhodan. The immortal comes, together with Mondra Diamond, to the location and must answer the question placed to him by the old man, of what he has done for Mankind till now. The old man makes Perry consider what he and the Earth has gone through for the past two hundred years, running the gamut from multiple mental and physical invasions where men , women and children died (including his), to the Simusense addiction and the circle mania of Goedda. Rhodan can only muse on the philosophical meaning of it all, but his answer satisfies the old man and he releases his hostage.

On June 6, 1333 NGE Gon Orbhon arrives on Gray Foam, in order to talk with Carya Andaxi about the future of the Protectors Order. She completely surprises him, leading him to the mysterious hatches in the depths of the ocean, some of them with a diameter of thirty kilometers. Inside them, she had hidden Protector Arks, which she had long ago ordered built. There are five thousand of these ellipsoid space giants of twenty-five kilometers diameter and fifteen kilometers height. The two decide to summon the races of the hypercocoons and leave the Milky Way with the Arks to search for Ahandaba.

On December 3, the two Protectors ask Perry Rhodan to meet them. When he arrives, they inform him of their intentions and offer to allow the Terrans to come along, but Rhodan rejects them. The Terrans will not abandon their homeland.

On December 6, 1333 NGE, on Parrakh, Kantiran goes to the Nocturnen obelisk, and asks the new being, which again possesses a very positive radiation, to show him Thereme again. The new being rejects the request. During the following dialogue Kantiran realizes that he has found a new friend in Satrugar.

August 3,1334 NGE: On Tan Jamondi II, when Zephyda goes to a meeting on the preparations for the large caravan, which is to begin its journey towards Ahandaba, it comes to a discussion over the Charon Cloud, a small star cluster in the center of the Milky Way, to which nobody has yet been able to penetrate. Because it concerns only thirty-six stars of people favorably inclined to the Order anyway, which were imprisoned in a hypercocoon there, the Protectors decide to ignore this area in their efforts to take all the races on the journey. Yet, Zephyda cannot help feeling that something is still not being said about the area.

October 10, 1335 NGE: In the Tan Jamondi system the caravan is almost ready to leave. Atlan and Zephyda meet for one last time. Atlan asks her to stay and Zephyda asks him to leave with her, but their sense of responsibility prevents either of them from giving in, so Atlan stays and the Stellar Majesty goes on the journey. Five thousand Protector Arks, one hundred twenty thousand bionic cruisers and the six remaining Kybb-Titans of the Parrakh system leave, with the six Sentries, the eternal gardener Orrien Alar Ancient Trummstam and the Paragon Cross.

On February 20, 1336 NGE Kantiran and Mal are still living peacefully on Parrakh, which has meanwhile been taken over by the Gurrads. Kantiran and Mal are working as animal healers. Rhodan’s son visits the obelisk every day. It shows him the events, which are transpiring on board the ships of the Protector caravan.

On October 20, 1336 NGE, when they reach the edge of ES’ thickness concentration, the Paragon Cross visits the Stellar Majesty in her cabin and informs her that it has selected her for something. With their leaving ES’ sphere of power, the Paragon Cross’ job, as well its existence as part of the superintelligence has come to an end. It has therefore selected Zephyda as its new anchor in the universe, for it needs this purchase in order to convert into a Koridecc butterfly. It is still able consecrate Protectors, as is shown a little later when Zephayda is made a Protector.

On June 16, 1337 NGE, Satrugar informs Kantiran that it has lost contact with the caravan, just as Kantarin sees Zephyda falling for a young Motana named Dalkem. Satrugar then tells Kantiran that the young man’s time on Parrakh is over because a visitor is arriving to see him. When Kantiran leaves the obelisk, he witnesses a spaceship landing. It is a ship of the peace drivers that has landed on Parrakh and a human wearing a plain plastic mask exits it. When he steps before Kantiran, his first words are: "My name is Alaska Saedelaere."